Conor McPherson

A short play for two performers, from the author of The Weir.A Jesuit priest, sent to investigate a miracle in his home town, re-encounters the woman who loved him thirty years before.Conor McPhersons Come On Over was first performed at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in September 2001.

An inimitably warm and stylish play that deftly mines the humanity to be found in the most unlikely of situations.Tommys not a bad man, hes getting by. Renting a run-down room in his uncle Maurices house, just about keeping his ex-wife and kids at arms length and rolling from one get-rich-quick scheme to the other with his pal Doc. Then one day he comes to the aid of Aimee, whos not had it easy herself, struggling through life the only way she knows how. Their past wont let go easily. But together theres a glimmer of hope they could make something more of their lives. Something extraordinary. Perhaps.The Night Alive premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in June 2013, before transferring to the Atlantic Theater in New York. It was named Best New Play at the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards 2014.

A suspenseful, atmospheric adaptation of Daphne du Mauriers enthralling short story.Mysterious masses of birds have begun to violently attack at high tide, driving strangers Nat and Diane to take refuge in an isolated, abandoned house by the sea and form a bond to survive their haunting new circumstance. With no electricity and scarce food, the tension is palpable and hope is waning.Yet if two is company, three is a crowd, as the sudden arrival of a young woman with a mysterious nature of her own ruffles feathers in the house and quickly threatens to destroy their so-called sanctuary.

A visceral version of Strindbergs compelling, bitingly funny battle of wills.On an isolated island, military captain Edgar and his wife Alice live a bitter life, their marriage soured by hatred. When the possibility of redemption and escape arrives for Alice in the shape of their former comrade Kurt, it seems that Edgar is prepared to use his very last breath to make their lives a living hell.

A breathtaking supernatural play from the author of The Weir.Its Christmas Eve and Sharky has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, ageing brother whos recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are holed up at the house too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arrival of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are raised ever higher. In fact, Sharky may be playing for his very soul.Conor McPhersons play The Seafarer was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in the Cottesloe auditorium, in September 2006.

This volume of Conor McPhersons collected plays, covering a decade of writing, celebrates a fascination with the uncanny which has led him to be described as quite possibly the finest playwright of his generation (New York Times).In Shining City, a man seeks help from a counsellor, claiming to have seen the ghost of his dead wife. The play, premiered at the Royal Court, London, is up there with The Weir, moving, compassionate, ingenious and absolutely gripping (Daily Telegraph).The Seafarer, premiered at the National Theatre before going on to become a Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, tells the story of an extended Christmas Eve card game, but one played for the highest stakes possible. McPherson proves yet again he is both a born yarn-spinner and an acute analyst of the melancholy Irish manhood (Guardian)Set in the big house in 1820s rural Ireland, The Veil is McPhersons first period play. Seventeen-year-old Hannah is to be married off in order to settle the debts of the crumbling estate. But when Reverend Berkeley arrives, determined to orchestrate a seance, chaos is unleased. A cracking fireside tale of haunting and decay (The Times)The Birds, hauntingly adapted from the short story by Daphne du Maurier, is deliciously chilling, claustrophobic, questioning, frightening; and with a twist (Irish Independent). It is published here for the first time, as is TheDance of Death, a new version of Strindbergs classic, which premiered at the Trafalgar Studios in London. A spectacularly bleak yet curiously bracing drama that often makes you laugh out loud (Daily Telegraph).Completing the volume is a Foreword by the author.

People always blame something, dont they?A poignant and gripping tale told through three interlinking monologues from the multi-award-winning author of The Weir.Three young men from a small seaside town near Dublin tell us in overlapping monologues of their inextricably linked lives and the eventful week which was to change things for good...Conor McPhersons play This Lime Tree Bower was first performed as an Iomha Ildanach/Fly by Night co-production at the Crypt Arts Centre, Dublin, in September 1995. It was subsequently performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in July 1996.The play won a Thames TV Award, a Guinness/National Theatre Ingenuity Award and the 1997 Meyer-Whitworth Award.Conor McPherson adapted and directed a feature film version under the title Saltwater. Released in 2000, it starred Peter McDonald, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and Conor Mullen.

Set around a haunted house hemmed in by a restive, starving populace, The Veil weaves Irelands troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental and the circularity of time. May 1822, rural Ireland. The defrocked Reverend Berkeley arrives at the crumbling former glory of Mount Prospect House to accompany seventeen year-old Hannah to England. She is to be married off to a marquis in order to resolve the debts of her mothers estate. However, compelled by the strange voices that haunt his beautiful young charge and a fascination with the psychic current that pervades the house, Berkeley proposes a seance, the consequences of which are catastrophic.Conor McPhersons play The Veil was first performed in the Lyttelton auditorium of the National Theatre, London, in September 2011.

Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge. Lost and lonely people huddle together in the local guesthouse.The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind, and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for.So, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback turn up in the middle of the night, things spiral beyond the point of no return...In Girl from the North Country, Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into a show full of hope, heartbreak and soul. It premiered at The Old Vic, London, in July 2017, in a production directed by Conor McPherson, and later transferred to the West End, Broadway, Australia, Ireland and toured the UK.

A brilliant, haunting play from the multi-award winning author of The Weir.Ian has left the priesthood to become a therapist. John is one of his first clients. Johns wife has been killed in a car accident, and he keeps receiving visits from her ghost. John, with Ians help, starts to recover. But what begins as an unusual encounter becomes a desperate struggle between the living and the dead a struggle which will shape and define both of them for the rest of their lives.Conor McPhersons play Shining City was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in June 2004.

The spellbinding, beautifully observed hit from the master of suspenseful realism.A bar in a remote part of Ireland. The local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman recently moved to the area from Dublin. As the drink flows and the stories become increasingly frightening, its clear that Valerie has something on her mind. She has a tale to tell thatll stop them all dead in their tracks.Conor McPhersons play The Weir combines superbly chilling tales of the supernatural with the hilarious banter of a small community in the heart of rural Ireland. The Weir was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs at the Ambassadors Theatre on West Street, London, in July 1997. It transferred to the Duke of Yorks Theatre in the West End in February 1998, where it played for two years.The play went on to win the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999. McPherson also won the Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright.The Weir has since been performed very widely, including on Broadway in 1999. It received a major West End revival at the Donmar Warehouse in 2013, and transferred to the West End once again. It was voted one of the hundred most significant plays of the twentieth century in a poll conducted by the National Theatre in 2000.

The second collection of plays from the multi-award winning author.Included in this volume is Conor McPhersons The Weir, one of the most successful plays of recent years. In a bar in a remote part of Ireland, the local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman from Dublin newly moved into the area... A spellbinder that transfixes you... No praise in fact is too highGuardianDublin Carolis set on Christmas Eve, when a Dublin undertaker is visited by his estranged daughter urging him to face up to the past. McPherson writes like a dream.... The play works an ingenious spellDaily MailPort Authority tells of three interwoven lives: a boy leaves home for the first time; a man starts a job for which he is unqualified; a pensioner is sent a mysterious package... Overwhelmingly poignant... desolate, searing eloquenceEvening StandardAnd in Come on Over, published here for the first time, a Jesuit priest, sent to investigate a miracle in his home town, re-encounters the woman who loved him thirty years before. Piercingly evocative, powerfully exploring the tension between human and divine love Daily TelegraphThe volume also contains an Afterword by the author.

Youll remember how much of living is really just forgetting.The family home is more than a building. Its a destination of pilgrimage, an inherited investment, a repository of memory or magic. But, for brother and sister Stephen and Billie, home is all theyve got. Mucking along in their decaying farmhouse, theyre doing just fine.That is, until the arrival of an ex-clergyman uncle with an unscrupulous plan, a sister-in-law seeking a miracle, and a prodigal brother hell-bent on troubleAn entrancing tale of fate, family and unseen forces in 1980s Ireland, Conor McPhersons play The Brightening Air was the winner of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. It was first performed at The Old Vic, London, in 2025, directed by the playwright.

Els personatges solitaris i insatisfets de Conor McPherson busquen evadir-se a través de les històries que s'expliquen els uns als altres, o que ens expliquen a nosaltres. Lluny d'artificis escènics i interpretatius, la responsabilitat de les seves obres recau en la paraula. En aquesta antologia, hem reunit quatre textos que són una bona mostra de l'extraordinaria habilitat com a narrador de l'autor irlandès: els monòlegs entrellaçats que conformen Sota el til·ler (1995), la confessió d'un crític de teatre que acaba formant part d'una secta vampírica a St. Nicholas (1996), les històries de fantasmes que expliquen els clients habituals d'un pub irlandès a La presa (1997) i la lluita d'un exalcohòlic que juga a pòquer contra el dimoni a El mariner (2006).

They have power. Not the power to make you do what they want. But real power. To make you want what they want.An eccentric, teasing yarn from the multi-award-winning author of The Weir.A cynical and jaded drama critic falls for a beautiful young actress. In pursuing her, he meets a group of modern-day vampires who offer him eternal life his part of the bargain is to feed their bloodlust.Conor McPhersons monologue play St Nicholas was first performed by Brian Cox at the Bush Theatre, London, in February 1997, in a production directed by Conor McPherson.

Four early plays from the author of The Weir, with a foreword by the author.The plays in this volume three monologues and a three-hander were all written while Conor McPherson was in his twenties.In This Lime Tree Bower (Crypt Arts Centre, Dublin, 1995; Bush Theatre, London, 1996), three young men from a small seaside town near Dublin tell us in overlapping monologues of their inextricably linked lives and the eventful week which was to change things for good.St Nicholas (Bush Theatre, London, 1997) is an eccentric, teasing yarn in which a cynical and jaded drama critic falls for a beautiful young actress. In pursuing her, he meets a group of modern-day vampires who offer him eternal life his part of the bargain is to feed their bloodlust.Rum and Vodka (University College Dublin, 1992; City Arts Centre, Dublin, 1994) is a short monologue play in which a young Irishman with a drink problem tells of three momentous days in his life when his drab nine-to-five existence is obliterated in an escapist binge which threatens to engulf him.The Good Thief (City Arts Centre, Dublin, 1994) is a monologue play about a petty criminal who is punished by his conscience when he becomes involved in a bungled kidnap.

I have people with skills who can do stuff. Its a small quibble but I refuse to constrain my personality.A petty criminal is punished by his conscience when he becomes involved in a bungled kidnap.Conor McPhersons monologue play The Good Thief was first performed under the title The Light of Jesus by Fly By Night Theatre Company at the City Arts Centre, Dublin, on 18 April 1994. It was directed by Conor McPherson and performed by Kevin Hely.It was subsequently performed as a Loopline production, as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival on 4 October 1994. It was performed by Garrett Keogh and directed by Conor McPherson.The play was awarded the Stewart Parker Award, an annual award for the best Irish debut play.

A magical, compelling play from the author of The Weir.Present day Dublin. Christmas Eve. Undertaker John Plunkett is sharing memories of funerals over the years and dispensing advice to his young assistant. But the arrival of his daughter Mary estranged, grown-up shows him the time has come to face up to his own disastrous past. Otherwise, he will never be able to create some kind of truce with his fear of the future.Conor McPhersons play Dublin Carol was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, London, in January 2000.