Ghost story The Weir comes to the New Vic

Sep 26 2008 by Michael Green, Chester Chronicle

CONOR McPherson’s award-winning play, The Weir, gets the New Vic treatment from Friday, October 24 to Saturday, November 8.

When this frightening ghost story premiered at the Royal Court in 1997, 26-year-old McPherson was immediately acclaimed as a major new dramatist, receiving the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Successful runs in the West End and on Broadway followed, and to top it all The Weir was honoured with an Olivier Award for Best New Play.

In a bar in the remote west of Ireland, the local bachelors are swapping spooky stories to impress Valerie, recently arrived from Dublin and living in the local ‘haunted’ house. Their tales, both funny and chilling, are a mesmerising mix of rumour and local legend.

But, as the light thickens, the language gets stronger and the tales darken, the night takes a strange and unexpected twist. And perhaps Valerie has a story of her own to tell.

The New Vic’s production is directed by the theatre’s artistic director Theresa Heskins and designed by Liz Cooke, whose work includes the acclaimed Pericles and The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare’s Globe and more recently the visual spectacular Monkey! at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

The cast includes West End regular Billy Boyle and New Vic favourite Ged McKenna.

The Weir can be seen at the New Vic Theatre in Newcast;e-under-Lyme from October 24-November 8. Tickets are available from the box office on 01782 717962, or online at www.newvictheatre.org.uk.