The Weir - cultural or wierd?
Well a little later than intended but I fell asleep ... whoops. But anyways here is my review/breakdown thing of 'The Weir' by Conor McPherson.
Just to clarify, this is my plan with this account. I’m going to be reviewing stuff :) I do it automatically anyway so I thought I might as well write it up so if any one stumbles across it they might find it useful *shrugs*.
Right well my LAMDA acting award is coming up so I have to read the plays that I'll be doing extracts from and here's the first one; 'The Weir' by Conor McPherson. In terms of theatre this is probs his most famous and definitely his most well received piece of work but, film fans may be interested to know that he wrote and directed 'Saltwater' starring Irish great Brendon Gleeson.
In terms of acclaim 'The Weir' couldn’t come more highly recommended. Winner of the Olivier Award for best play and having long and successful runs in the West End and Broadway. On paper then it all looks rather good! But then we have to read the thing!
McPherson obviously isn't one for long winded stage directions (which is always a plus point, reading page upon page of the stuff can be mind numbingly dull and some playwrights are just ridiculous, not naming any names of course *im looking at you Arthur Miller!*) he simply sets the scene of a small rural pub in a small town that time forgot in Ireland and then moves onto the characters. We have the sweet barman Brendon in his 30s and his regulars Jack (50s) and Jim (40s). Also amongst the gang are local boy made good businessman, Finbar in his late 40s and Valerie the newcomer fresh from bustling Dublin, in her thirties.
The basic plot is a very simple one, the characters all meet in the pub and tell stories that all verge on the supernatural (or at least centre around some form of mysticism) and then ... they leave the pub! Not that hard to work out then!
Despite these supernatural, fantasy elements however the play is one of the most naturalistic I have come across. Speaking as a barmaid in a small local pub I can tell you that this dialogue is plucked straight from the context that is set in! Just listening to these guys talk you feel you are in the pub with them nursing a Guinness and listening to the fire crackle. The setting too lends its self to the Chekov school of naturalism; one setting, one time period ... and that’s it folks.
However this is where the trouble occurs. Reading it I was constantly going back to check on what I read. Not knowing what kind of play this was I didn't know if these details that the characters keep expounding about other people in the village, the history of the place etc were important or not. I had to remind myself of who the characters were a lot at the beginning too. As much as I think this play lends itself to a small, cosy theatre atmosphere with a papier masha fourth wall, I felt distinctly like an outsider. I didn't understand bits of the colloquial slang and every time they said 'Good Luck' I wanted to strangle them! (Now that one might just be me but do all Irish people say Good luck when they take a drink?) I felt a tad bombarded by it all and yet couldn't visualise it.
Iit plays out like one of the old 'sitting round the table' routines such as '12 Angry Man'. If you're not willing to see the thing through, if you want action straight from the off, then don't even bother with this play, you won’t like it!
Not being one of those people myself, I did make it to the end (not hard considering it is a very short play) and was moved by the final story and how it all sort of tied together. But more importantly how each character reacted, the final exploration as it were into the intrigue of mysticism vs. pragmatic reality.
All in all 'The Weir' gives you a very clear look into this snapshot of daily life which you do become immersed with, you get to know the characters, and I loved the ending! Even though many subtext plots were hinted at McPherson didn't conclude them but left them for another day, as it would happen in real life because guess what folks everything isn't always sorted out in two hours in real life I'm afraid.
I guess my final verdict would be that this would be a play I would like to see performed. I am very much of the opinion that a play read but not seen is only half read anyway! But even so this is not a play that lends its self to simply being read. I can imagine that on a stage it would take on a whole new dimension, you could be whisked away into the setting and become more involved with the characters. And I'd like that! But as it is.... well it’s not the best I've read in a while put it that way.
Still, I will not be passing up an opportunity to see it performed if such an opportunity were to come my way :D