DOCSLIB.ORG

Conor Mcpherson's the Weir

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Conor Mcpherson's the Weir CONOR MCPHERSON’S THE WEIR: NEW MASTER OF IRISH STORYTELLING CONOR MCPHERSON’UN THE WEIR OYUNU: İRLANDA ÖYKÜ GELENEĞİNİN YENİ USTASI dilek inan* ABSTRACT This paper considers the contemporary Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s award-winning play The Weir (1997), as a depiction of Ireland’s storytelling culture, especially in the countryside. Critics and scholars have frequently characterized Irish writers as great story-tellers and Conor McPherson, who has been considered as the new master of old-fashioned Irish art of storytelling, continues this tradition. In The Weir the dwellers of the local pub occupy themselves by drinking, teasing each other and recollecting events from past times. By reciting a sequence of narratives in the form of dramatic monologues, these men wish to impress a young woman from Dublin who has rented a neighborho- od house. They familiarize her to this idyllic part of Ireland by telling a series of stories that include fairies, ghosts, mystery and the supernatural. While acknowledging an ages-old tradition, - a tale of local folklore about fairies - McPherson explores moving themes of loss, abandonment, loneliness and regret through haunting and entertaining ghost stories. Keywords: Conor McPherson, The Weir, Storytelling, Monologue, Ghost Stories ÖZET Bu çalışma günümüz İrlandalı oyun yazarı Conor McPherson’ın 1997 yılında yazdığı bol ödüllü The Weir adlı oyununu özellikle İrlanda kırsalının en yaygın geleneği olan öykü anlatımı açısından inceler. Tiyatro eleştirmenleri ve araştırmacılar sık sık İrlandalı yazarların öykü anlatımı alanındaki ustalığını vurgular. McPherson yazdığı oyunlarda İrlanda’nın eski bir geleneği olan öykü anlatımı sanatının yeni ustası olarak dikkat çeker. The Weir oyununda orta-yaşlı, işçi sınıfından erkek karak- terler her zamanki yaptıkları gibi mahalli meyhanede biraraya gelirler. İçki eşliğinde, sohbet eder, şakalaşır ve geçmişi yadederler. Karakterler, Dublin’den gelen ve İrlanda’nın kırsal bölgesine yeni yerleşen genç bir kadın karakteri etkilemek üzere dramatik monolog formatında öyküler anlatırlar. Peri, hayalet, gizem ve doğaüstü olaylar içeren öyküler vasıtasıyla Valerie’ye bulundukları kırsal yöreyi tanıtırlar. Karakterlerin birbirlerine anlattıkları bazen eğlenceli bazen düşündürücü öyküler sayesinde, McPherson nesillerdir süregelen öykü geleneğine dikkat çekerken ayrıca karakterlerin yal- nızlık, sıkıntı, pişmanlık gibi duygular içeren iç dünyalarını yansıtır. Anahtar Sözcükler: Conor McPherson, The Weir, Öyküleyici Anlatım, Monolog, Hayalet Öyküleri * Doç.Dr., Balıkesir Üniversitesi İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Irish drama and Irish playwrights McPherson, as one of the most prolific have played a significant role on world the- young Irish playwrights along with Martin atre. As a contemporary playwright Conor McDonagh and Marina Carr, finds a new McPherson has inherited a rather strong theatrical voice and device in order to pre- dilek inan Irish dramatic tradition which boasts its sent contemporary Ireland. Irish folklore, fame with chief names such as Wilde, She- which is full of versatile, witty and inven- ridan, Goldsmith, Congreve, G.B. Shaw, tive stories, provides great resources for J.M. Synge, Sean O’Casey, Samuel Beckett, McPherson’s plays. He makes use of mo- and Brian Friel. These world-renowned nologues and storytelling technique in his playwrights have not only created stori- plays which have mostly linear narratives. es that have become central to Western One needs to bear in mind that, on one literature, but they have also created new hand, the contemporary Irish playwrights theatrical attitudes politically and stylisti- are fostered by Celtic folk tales and are no- cally. Within the twentieth century, from urished by the values and stories of the old the efforts of the Irish literary revivalists days; on the other hand, they have inheri- like W. B. Yeats to extremely important ted a very different Ireland from their pre- government efforts, Irish folklore has been decessors. Once a traditional rural culture, assured a central place within the identity today Ireland has become a predominantly of the Republic of Ireland – a country of urban country that is supported by the tales, myths, and legends and thus Irish global economy and is part of the new in- storytellers have become world-famous formation age. Indeed, Heilpern is among for their wit and inventiveness. The extra- many other critics who does not approve ordinary range of Irish stories comes from of the backward-looking view of Ireland a folklore tradition more than 2,000 years that seems to dominate the new dramas old, which successfully blended Celtic, with their impoverished rural types, the Christian, and English influences to create seemingly endless supply of stormy nights, some of the most distinctive oral literature of ghosts, goblins and Guinness: “It’s as if in all of Europe. Although the traditional 62 Ireland were still locked in the turn of the format for Irish storytelling is dying out, 20th century and its flattery of fanciful ste- its legacy continues in books and in po- reotypes of melancholy Irish manhood. As etry. One of the most popular themes for stories has been the spirit world. Ireland if it has never become a part of the contem- has been widely known to be inhabited porary globe” (Heilpern, 1999). However, by all manner of fairies. The fairies were McPherson brings old and new Ireland notoriously mischievous, and a vast array together to question the place of myth and of stories described the mysterious tricks storytelling in a skeptical modern world. they played on innocent mortals. In The Weir, he uses the idea of super- Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 36:2013/2 • ISSN: 1300-1523 natural visitation as a way of exploring his Doritt Cohn has described as the “transpa- favorite theme of the ingrained solitude of rent mind, allowing audiences entry into the Irish male. He uses typical Gothic equ- the characters’ consciousness; their moti- ipment to recognize an ages-old tradition, vations, history, or point of view” (Cohn, the idea of wayfarers assembling under si- 1978: p.5). McPherson’s plays are based ege to swap information and accounts of on narratology. In this respect, his mono- lives as they do in Boccaccio’s Decameron, logues reveal his characters’ consciousness and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The and their moments of epiphany powerfully Weir makes a lively case for the spirit of especially when sharpened by lighting that tradition and for the important value and staging effects. As Castagno observes of telling stories. In this respect, this study monologue allows telescopic glimpses of will begin with ‘storytelling’, which is an characters beyond the capacity of conver- inseperable part of McPherson’s writing sational discourse, thus ensuring a grea- presented in the form of monologues and ter possibility of “knowing the character” WEIR THE MCPHERSON’S CONOR uninterrupted speeches. Then The Weir beyond the plot-limiting function as an will be interpreted in the light of storytel- “agent of the action” (Castagno, 2001). In- ling, dramatic monologue and the “pub deed, each one of McPherson’s attentively play” genre. crafted monologues in The Weir and elsew- Conor McPherson, known for his here contemplate traditional structures of “amazing gift for storytelling,” employs play structure: beginning (exposition: sen- storytelling device in the form of mono- se of place and context), middle (discovery: logues to enable the audiences to enter the climax, realization), end (reversal, choice, minds of the characters. His plays such as resolution). Rum and Vodka (1994), The Good Thief, The monologues are effective in port- This Lime Tree Bower (1995), St. Nicholas, raying the transition of the character’s The Weir (1996), Dublin Carol (1999), Port mental and emotional states. McPherson Authority (2001), Come on Over, Shining mainly achieves capturing the audience’s City (2004), The Seafarer (2006), and The 63 interest through gothic stories. Indeed Birds (2009), demonstrate the playwright’s his texts composed for both the stage and mastery in using storytelling as a device in screen, such as The Seafarer and The Ec- dramatic plays. lipse respectively, are equipped with got- Storytelling and monologue have a sig- hic narratives. Galvin, too, examines “the nificant status in narratology. Narratology monologued ghost stories that shape The deals with uninterrupted speech mostly in Weir” (Galvin, 2010). Galvin interprets the form of monologues. In reality-based that McPherson views ghosts and super- drama, monologue may theatricalise what natural experiences as metaphors for “the Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 36:2013/2 • ISSN: 1300-1523 unknown, the existential and the unfinis- incorporated the extended monologue as a hed business of our lives.” (Galvin, 2010) core dramatic device. Contemporary drama Similarly, Ronald K. Fried has highlighted critic and scholar Clare Wallace analyses the presence of fairies, ghosts and other the monologue form in McPherson’s plays dilek inan supernatural types in McPherson’s “other- extensively and she underlines a relations- worldly tales”. In an interview with Fried, hip between monologue and questions of McPherson has acknowledged that there ethics. Wallace highlights “the pivotal qua- are a lot of people who have nowhere to go lity of ambivalence that might serve to dis- in his plays and that in that kind of situati- tinguish the modern monologue from its on the characters can talk to each other. In predecessors” (See Chambers, 2012:
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Night Alive
    THE NIGHT ALIVE BY CONOR MCPHERSON DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE INC. THE NIGHT ALIVE Copyright © 2014, Conor McPherson All Rights Reserved CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that performance of THE NIGHT ALIVE is subject to payment of a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention, the Berne Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including without limitation professional/amateur stage rights, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound recording, all other forms of mechanical, electronic and digital reproduction, transmission and distribution, such as CD, DVD, the Internet, private and file-sharing networks, information storage and retrieval systems, photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed upon the matter of readings, permission for which must be secured from the Author’s agent in writing. The English language stock and amateur stage performance rights in the United States, its territories, possessions and Canada for THE NIGHT ALIVE are controlled exclusively by DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. No professional or nonprofessional performance of the Play may be given without obtaining in advance the written permission of DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC., and paying the requisite fee. Inquiries concerning all other rights should be addressed to Curtis Brown, Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • Interweaving the Local and the Global in Conor Mcpherson’S the Weir
    International Journal of Management and Applied Science, ISSN: 2394-7926 Volume-3, Issue-7, Jul.-2017 http://iraj.in INTERWEAVING THE LOCAL AND THE GLOBAL IN CONOR MCPHERSON’S THE WEIR MAHA ALATAWI School of English, drama, and Film Email: [email protected] Abstract- Focusing on the Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s the Weir, this paper explores how late- twentieth and early twenty-first century Irish drama – set within local places and shaped by the role of the supernatural – offers new ways in which to consider the relations between the national and the global. McPherson’s plays represent the interests of Ireland in specific time periods and places but have broader meaning and significance as they offer insight into the human condition. History and the supernatural are prevalent themes of McPherson’s works – he incorporates older traditions of ghost stories and storytelling – yet places them in a modern world. This paper argues for a realism that is grounded in the wider recognition of changing global, social and cultural conditions. Yet within these, certain human weaknesses and behavioural patterns remain static. In The Ethos of a Late-Modern Citizen, White suggests that changing democratic trends in Western societies asks for us to re-examine our role as citizens. White frames his theoretical approach by asking ‘what sort of "characteristic spirit" or "sentiment" should we be trying to cultivate as we seek to confront the deep challenges of late- modern life?’; citizens and minds of the future can no longer be inward looking or inward focused, but equally, as McPherson suggests in his plays, citizens rely on the personal associations and past experiences in order to forge an identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Critical Acclaim for the Seafarer
    B e t w e e n T h e Between The Lines: Vol II Issue I 2008 Background on The Seafarer The Seafarer, like many of McPherson’s plays is set in In a candid interview with American Theatre Ireland, specifically in Baldoyle, a coastal town north Magazine, McPherson describes the moment of of Dublin. The play centers on Sharky, an alcoholic inspiration for The Seafarer: who returns home to care for his aging brother, Richard, who recently went blind. They are joined “The journey of The Seafarer was a long one for by Sharky’s friends Ivan and Nicky who are holed up me. There’s this monument in Ireland… a 5,000- in the basement of Richard’s home during a severe year-old tomb called Newgrange. It’s got a long storm. The friends’ poker game is interrupted by the tunnel with a little hole in the middle of it and arrival of a mysterious friend, Mr. Lockhart who raises on the winter solstice each year; the sun shines the stakes of the game damningly high. directly down that chamber and lights it up — on the darkest day of the year. That image was… so The Seafarer opened at the National Theatre in 2006 simple, spiritual, amazing. I wanted to write a play garnering the Olivier-Award for Best Play before that had that moment… that darkest moment, moving to Broadway in December 2007. One of the darkest day of the year, where at the end the most acclaimed plays of last season, the show ran a light comes in.” brief 133 performances at the Booth Theatre before becoming one of several casualties due to the stage- hands strike that closed nearly all Broadway shows for weeks.
    [Show full text]
  • Refractions of Modernity in Conor Mcpherson's the Weir
    The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 17 (Autumn 2018) ‘Most foul, strange and unnatural’: Refractions of Modernity in Conor McPherson’s The Weir Matthew Fogarty In the foreword to the first volume of his collected-plays series, Conor McPherson recently acknowledged that, as a playwright who came to prominence during the Celtic-Tiger period, he belonged to a new wave of internationally acclaimed Irish dramatists who were considered representative of ‘a place where a horrendous past met a glistening future and where tradition evolved’.1 Gothic scholars will scarcely need reminding that ‘horrendous pasts’ and ‘glistening futures’ make for eerie bedfellows; the gothic is, after all, a genre that draws much of its potency from the anomalous conjunctions that bind the future to its past. Indeed, Victor Merriman has cast a suitably suspicious eye over the neoliberal mechanisms that engineered the optimal conditions for these new Irish playwrights to produce their preferred image of a flourishing and vibrant Ireland. He argues that the State’s inequitable endowment of arts funding, coupled with soaring rent prices for rehearsal and performance spaces, especially in Dublin, bifurcated ‘drama itself into a theatre of social critique, and a theatre of diversionary spectacle’.2 This ensured that plays seeking to critique contemporary Irish culture were shuffled to the margins, while the more diversionary spectacles continuously reproduced what Merriman calls ‘reductive stereotypes of Irishness’, which served only to alienate the population
    [Show full text]
  • The Seafarer M Arch 7, 2010 Q Uadracci P Owerhouse T Heater
    THE MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER PRESENTS WRITTEN B Y C ONOR M CP HERSON F EBRUARY 9 TO THE SEAFARER M ARCH 7, 2010 Q UADRACCI P OWERHOUSE T HEATER This study guide is researched and designed by the Education Department at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and is intended to prepare you for your visit. It contains information that will deepen your understanding of, and appreciation for, the production. We’ve also included questions and activities for you to explore before and after our performance of THE SEAFARER. INSIDE THIS GUIDE If you would like to schedule a classroom workshop, or Synopsis 2 if we can help in any other way, please contact About the Author 2 Jenny Kostreva at 414-290-5370 or [email protected] The Poem and the 3 Play Rebecca Witt at A Deal With the 414-290-5393 or [email protected] 4 Devil Vocabulary 5 Study Guide Created An Interview With Editing By Dylan Sladky, 6 By Jenny Kostreva, Assistant Director Rebecca Witt, Education Coordinator Education Director Visiting The Rep 8 With Contributions Zoe Cohen, From Literary Intern Zoe Cohen, Dean Yohnk, Literary Intern Education Artist SYNOPSIS It’s Christmas Eve and Sharky has returned to Dublin to look after his blind, aging brother. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are with them too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arri- val of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are higher than ever. As the liquor flows, the stories pour out and Sharky discovers that he is involved in something more than a friendly poker game.
    [Show full text]
  • Conor Mcpherson's “The Weir”1
    DTCF Dergisi 61.1 (2021): 359-383 IRELAND/IRISHNESS IN TRANSITION: CONOR MCPHERSON'S “THE WEIR”1 DEĞİŞMEKTE OLAN İRLANDA VE İRLANDALI KİMLİĞİ: CONOR MCPHERSON'IN “THE WEIR” ADLI OYUNU Tuğba ŞİMŞEK Arş. Gör., Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi, Yabancı Diller Fakültesi, İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bölümü, [email protected] Makale Bilgisi Abstract As a contemporary Irish playwright who is well-known for his monologue plays, Conor Gönderildiği tarih: 1 Mart 2021 McPherson (1971- ) illustrates the changing process of Irishness within the scope of Kabul edildiği tarih: 8 Mayıs 2021 clashing traditional and modern values in The Weir. In the early twentieth century as a Yayınlanma tarihi: 24 Haziran 2021 result of the nationalist and isolationist policy, Irish identity was constructed as rural, agricultural, and Catholic, but it began to change with the impact of the Celtic Tiger Article Info referring to an economic boom starting in the mid-1990s. In this article, The Weir is Date submitted: 1 March 2021 analysed as a transition play representing the 1990s in terms of the collision of the old and Date accepted: 8 May 2021 the new Irishness with regard to social, sexual, and religious values. This paper aims to Date published: 24 June 2021 examine and discuss Ireland and Irishness in transition within the context of rural-urban, traditional-modern, local-global dichotomies escalating by the impact of the Celtic Tiger period. Anahtar sözcükler Conor McPherson; The Weir; Kelt Öz Kaplanı; İrlandalı Kimliği Daha çok monolog türünde kaleme aldığı oyunları ile bilinen çağdaş İrlandalı yazar Conor McPherson (1971- ), The Weir (1997) adlı oyununda geleneksel ve çağdaş bağlamda çatışan İrlandalı kimliğinin değişim sürecini ortaya koyar.
    [Show full text]
  • Interweaving the Local and the Global in Conor Mcpherson’S the Weir
    INTERWEAVING THE LOCAL AND THE GLOBAL IN CONOR MCPHERSON’S THE WEIR MAHA ALATAWI School of English, drama, and Film Email: [email protected] Abstract: Focusing on the Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s the Weir, this paper explores how late- twentieth and early twenty-first century Irish drama – set within local places and shaped by the role of the supernatural – offers new ways in which to consider the relations between the national and the global. McPherson’s plays represent the interests of Ireland in specific time periods and places but have broader meaning and significance as they offer insight into the human condition. History and the supernatural are prevalent themes of McPherson’s works – he incorporates older traditions of ghost stories and storytelling – yet places them in a modern world. This paper argues for a realism that is grounded in the wider recognition of changing global, social and cultural conditions. Yet within these, certain human weaknesses and behavioural patterns remain static. In The Ethos of a Late-Modern Citizen, White suggests that changing democratic trends in Western societies asks for us to re-examine our role as citizens. White frames his theoretical approach by asking ‘what sort of "characteristic spirit" or "sentiment" should we be trying to cultivate as we seek to confront the deep challenges of late- modern life?’; citizens and minds of the future can no longer be inward looking or inward focused, but equally, as McPherson suggests in his plays, citizens rely on the personal associations and past experiences in order to forge an identity. Keywords: Irish Drama and Theatre – globalisation – realism – storytelling – the supernatural INTRODUCTION sense of the collective and the change they go through during the course of the play.
    [Show full text]
  • DISSERTATION Final
    “We've All To Grow Old”: Representations of Aging as Reflections of Cultural Change on the Celtic Tiger Irish Stage DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christopher Austin Hill B.A., M.A. Graduate Program in Theatre History, Literature, Criticism The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Chair: Dr. Joy Reilly Dr. Jennifer Schlueter Dr. Ray Cashman Copyright by Christopher Austin Hill 2013 Abstract This dissertation discusses the work of four Irish playwrights: Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Conor McPherson, and Elaine Murphy. Specifically, it investigates the inclusion, by these playwrights, of “elderly” characters in their plays written between 1995 and 2010—a period of economic and cultural change known as the “Celtic Tiger.” This study argues that the way that aging and senescence—defined jointly as the process of aging and as the state of being “aged”—are represented on stage reveals a broader cultural negotiation of “new” and “old” Ireland. Into their representations of “old” characters, the playwrights discussed here have embedded a reflection of destabilized cultural narratives, which resulted from intense societal change in Ireland. ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Allison and to my amazing children. Without them, this work would have been impossible. Their unfailing support and love were a constant force of strength, which drove me throughout my research. Thank you—I love you. iii Acknowledgments There are many people who I wish to thank, and far too little space in which to do it.
    [Show full text]
  • The Night Alive and Other Plays ​By Conor Mcpherson
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Gus Schulenburg [email protected]​ g | 212­609­5941 May 2, 2016 ​ New from TCG Books: ​ The Night Alive and Other Plays by Conor McPherson ​ NEW YORK, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of The Night Alive and Other Plays by Conor ​ ​ ​ McPherson. The Night Alive earned the award for Best Play by the New York ​ ​ ​ Drama Critics’ Circle and was first produced at the Donmar Warehouse in London in the summer of 2013. The play has since received several subsequent productions in America in theatres such as Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) and Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles). The collection also includes The ​ Birds, The Veil, and The Dance of Death. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ “Conor McPherson is one of the true poets of the theatre.” —David Cote, Time Out New York ​ With inimitable warmth, style, and craft, Conor McPherson’s new play The Night Alive deftly mines the ​ ​ humanity to be found in the most unlikely of situations. The Birds is a suspenseful, atmospheric adaptation of ​ ​ Daphne du Maurier’s enthralling short story, and The Veil weaves Ireland’s troubled colonial history into a ​ ​ transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental, and the circularity of time. The final play in this collection, The Dance of Death, is a visceral new version of Strindberg’s compelling, bitingly funny ​ ​ battle of wills. “Conor McPherson, the Irish dramatist who gave us The Weir and Shining City, has a singular gift for ​ ​ ​ ​ making the ordinary glow with an extra dimension, like a gentle phosphorescence waiting to be coaxed into radiance.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times ​ Conor McPherson was born in Dublin in 1971.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.CONOR MCPHERSON's the SEAFARER: TINKERING with TRADITION
    Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies E-ISSN: 2175-8026 [email protected] Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brasil Ferreira da Rocha, Roberto CONOR MCPHERSON’S THE SEAFARER: TINKERING WITH TRADITION Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, núm. 58, enero-junio, 2010, pp. 358-380 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=478348696017 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Conor McPherson's The Seafarer:... 357 CONOR MCPHERSON’S THE SEAFARER: TINKERING WITH TRADITION Roberto Ferreira da Rocha Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Everything here is shame and reproach: Satan saying that the fire is worthless, that my anger is ridiculous and silly. (Arthur Rimbaud, A Season in Hell, Translated by Paul Schmidt) Abstract: A reading of The Seafarer (2007), the last published play by the Irish playwright Conor McPherson (1971- ), which aims to investigate the rich intertextuality that the work presents. The text echoes both canonic and popular renderings of the Faustian myth, those of Christopher Marlowe (c. 1564-1593) and Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), as well as its folk rewritings. In The Seafarer McPherson conveys a complex portrait of a group of Irish working-class mates, who are enthralled in existential and gender conflicts. In this his fourth full-length ensemble play to reach both the London West End and New York Broadway (the first being The Weir of 1999) McPherson critically dialogues with the modernist and post- modernist dramatic tradition mainly through the works of John Middleton Synge (1871-1909), Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Harold Pinter (1930- Ilha do Desterro Florianópolis nº 58 p.
    [Show full text]
  • Dublin Carol
    The following pack provides some production background and context as well as providing you with the tools to answer an exam question on the technical elements of this production. There are both practical and academic questions within this – please be safe when completing the practical exercises. Production Creatives Page 3 Reviews Previous Work Page 4 Character List And Plot Summary Page 5 About The Playwright Page 6 Director’s And Designers Thoughts On The Production Page 7 Design Elements - Vocabulary Page 9 Introduction To Design - Exercises Page 10 Extract From Dublin Carol Page 12 Starting To Design (1) – Costume And Set Page 13 Starting To Design (2) – Sound And Lighting Page 14 ANALYSIS OF A PRODUCTION IN PERFORMANCE Page 15 Analysis Of A Scene In Performance Page 16 Some Suggested Lighting Gel Colours And Practicals Page 20 Page 2 of 20 This pack was created by Sherman Theatre for Dublin Carol For more information contact [email protected] Conor McPherson – Writer McPherson was born in Dublin in 1971. He began writing whilst at University College Dublin. In 2013 UCD awarded an honorary Doctorate in Literature His 1999 play, The Weir opened at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End and Broadway; in the process winning the Olivier Award for Best New Play. He made his National Theatre debut as both writer and director with The Seafarer, in 2006. His screenplays include I Went Down, Saltwater, The Actors and The Eclipse (The last three he also directed). The Donmar Warehouse’s 2013 season of McPherson's work saw the world premiere of The Night Alive, which went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.
    [Show full text]
  • Catalogue1516.Pdf
    Catalogue of New Plays 2015–2016 © 2015 Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Dramatists Play Service, Inc. A Letter from the President Dear Subscriber: Once again, the Play Service is delighted to have all of this year’s Tony nominees for Best Play. The winner, Simon Stephens’ THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, is a thrilling and emotional journey into the mind of an autistic boy. We acquired Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize- winning play DISGRACED after its run at Lincoln Center, and we are also publishing his plays THE WHO & THE WHAT and THE INVISIBLE HAND. Robert Askins’ subversive, hilarious play HAND TO GOD introduced this young American writer to Broadway, and the Play Service is happy to be his first publisher. Rounding out the nominess are Mike Poulton’s dazzling adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s WOLF HALL novels. THIS IS OUR YOUTH by Kenneth Lonergan and perennial favorite YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU by Kaufman and Hart were nominated for Best Revival of a Play. We have our 45th Pulitzer Prize winner in the moving, profane, and deeply human BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY, by Stephen Adly Guirgis, which is under option for Broadway production next season. Already slated for Broadway is Mike Bartlett’s “future history” play, KING CHARLES III, following its hugely successful production in the West End. Bess Wohl, a writer new to the Play Service, received the Drama Desk Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award. We have her plays AMERICAN HERO and SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS.
    [Show full text]