The Weir – Pavilion Theatre – Review

Dates – Tue 12 – Sat 30 July, 8pm – Matinee: Sat 16 Jul, 2.30pm

The play is set in a rural Irish pub where three middle-aged men sit and talk, Brendan the publican and two of his customers; Jack and Jim. They talk about a woman who has just moved to the area from Dublin, to live alone in a rented house. Shortly after they are joined by this young woman (Valerie – Janet Moran) along with a local businessman Finbar (Garrett Keogh). They start to chat and eventually tell stories, which have a supernatural slant. These stories become the focus of the play, as the wind howls outside on a dark night.

The Weir was written by Conor McPherson in 1997 and is one of the plays that launched his career into its current stellar position. It won the Laurence Olivier award for Best New Play in 1999. This is a new production by Decadent Theatre company, who previously brought us the Pillowman and Vernon God Little. This new production features an impressive cast with Garrett Keogh and Gary Lydon taking the lead roles.

The set for the play is a well constructed country pub, with a small bar in one corner and a fireplace in the other. There is impressive attention to detail, from the colour of the walls to the battered tables and chairs and it has the feel of a building that hasn’t received much love in the past 20 or so years.

The play is without any real climax or story arc, it’s a collection of characters in a rural pub telling stories, but this simplicity is also its beauty. It lurches quickly into the macabre, with some hair raising ghost stories that catch the audience off guard. There is something quite intense about the experience and you can feel the tension in the audience build. The coughs and splutters finish, and the atmosphere in the theatre alters as each tale work towards their dramatic conclusion. The cast have been touring with this play for the past number of weeks and are well established in their parts. This type of play is heavily reliant on the quality of the acting, but it is in safe hands with this strong cast.

Decadent Theatre’s new production of The Weir by Conor McPherson runs at Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire until July 30 – further info & bookings paviliontheatre.ie

Cast:

Garrett Keogh (The Clinic, Veronica Guerin)
Gary Lydon (Brooklyn, The Pillowman)
Frankie McCafferty (Vikings, Trial of the Century)
Janet Moran (Plough in the Stars, LOVE/HATE)
Patrick Ryan (Redrock, Sensation)