A BREATHTAKING MASTERPIECE
“The best plays come in a flash. An image, a feeling, and that’s it. You know these ideas because they are the undeniable ones that won’t let go. They pull you in and compel you to start scribbling notes. If you are a playwright and you have one of these on the go, you know you have a responsibility. To what? Something that doesn’t exist? But the good ideas feel like they DO EXIST. THEY ARE JUST BEYOND VIEW, AND YOU ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE THEM WITH GLIMPSES THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCURATE. “ (Foreword by Conor McPherson, Plays: Three- Nick Hern Books).
Well, The Weir can be considered a masterpiece: perfectly written by a genius, wonderfully directed and majestically performed by sublime actors. In short, a Production that wrings out our tired hearts, the best end-of-year treat, a surprise that gives great pleasure.
THAT’S WHAT ART IS: SONG
“A play of mine is a picture of the world as I perceive it. The Theatre, like all art, is about communication. It’s like when birds sings sitting on a branch. That’s what art is : song. Even more that trying to tell a story, I ‘m trying to sing. “(from an interview to Conor McPherson)
In fact we can easily describe the writing and production of plays as a genuine symphony, I mean, an elaborate musical composition for a full orchestra. And we should remember that all the components must work connected in order to create the perfect HARMONY. Every part of the whole collaborates in the combination of chords with a pleasing effect. Well, make no mistake about The Weir: this is a melodic and harmonius composition, pleasingly arranged and pleasant-sounding symphony.
Every involved part has obviously given a fundamental support: from the important location ABBEY THEATRE to the Director, the impressive Cast, the Musicians.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY
“When you put people in a room before a show, there is already a huge amount of ENERGY. If you are going to be mad enough to try to get everybody facing the same way and look at your work, you have to RESPECT those people. And those people want to like what they are going to see. They don’t want to hate it. And that ENERGY humming in the room, before anything happens, is LOVE. And you have to give your work to them with love and I hope I do. Once the show starts, you have to keep the love flowing. “( Afterword from Conor McPherson, Plays: Two, NHB )
In short, this Production at Abbey Theatre is a phenomenal and excellent show full of ENERGY, as you can read in the following extract from Irish Examiner by Alan O’Riordan: “ Show, don’t tell: so goes the old stricture. But one of the best things about Conor McPherson’s 1997 West End hit is that in telling, his characters do a lot of showing. Who are we, after all, if not the stories we choose to tell? It’s a windy winter night, though “balmy enough”, as regulars Jack (Brendan Coyle) and Jim (Marty Rea) arrive at the local bar, run by Brendan (Sean Fox). It’s an authentically unlovely rural pub in Sarah Bacon’s rotating set: formica and uncomfortable vinyl-covered seats, rather than postcard olde Irish. Outside, an abandoned car sits, with musicians Eamonn Cagney and Courtney Cullen playing, atmospherically”
A LOVELY ATMOSPHERE
So, if the characters do a lot of showing, also the music has an awesome purpose and reason for existence, as we have learnt during the RTÉ ARENA RADIO 1 live broadcast interview brilliantly hosted by SÉAN ROCKS ( on 5th December 2022 ).
https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22181225-the-weir-live-from-the-abbey-theatre/
First of all, the decision to put music in the play is due to what music represents,I mean, an important and deep way to express the emotional and intense part of the story.
Secondly , since who is writing this article is a musician, the language of music is probably the most suitable way to state clearly and convey the elements of folklore and its traditional beliefs and stories of a community.
Finally , let’s introduce Mr.Éamonn Cagney, one of the Musicians.
Éamonn Cagney and FOLKLORE
“Éamonn Cagney is a superb percussionist and a top-class musician.” ( Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin,Irish World Academy of Music & Dance)
Grown up by the Atlantic Ocean in northwest Donegal, at first he studied piano and guitar. Later, he trained as a percussionist in Africa, Australia, the UK and Ireland, playing djembe, donga, cajon, udu, handpan and a huge range of percussion instruments. Éamonn is very talented and his virtuosic hand-drumming talent has made him one of Ireland’s most in-demand musicians. “Throughout his solo music, his percussion ensemble RITHIM, his regular duo with Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, and his performances with the likes of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the Abbey Theatre and Denise Chaila, Cagney mixes technical virtuosity and soulfulness across a range of musical styles.”(extract from his website eamonncagney.com )
Well, dear readers, now you have all the necessary details to appreciate and admire some FOLK examples of Éamonn ‘s compositions:
COLLABORATION
So,dear readers, we’ve just talked about BEST IDEAS, ENERGY, HARMONY, FOLKLORE … and we cannot forget the brilliant element of COLLABORATION, because a masterpiece, in any cultural and social context, is surely the result of a great team work.
“ The only part I wanted to play was Jack in The Weir , so that was my list of one. I knew straight away I wanted to work with Caitríona and this was my chance to play Jack and to do it here which I think is its spiritual home arguably the Abbey Theatre in Dublin with this ensemble I can’t imagine it having been better realized at any time in any place.
About working with Mr.SEAN FOX: “ We have the first two lines, first exchange and the very last exchange and the strand between us and the care and concern that these characters have for each other. He found his own way beautifully. The way he inhabits that. The way he has developed his character. I kind of MARVEL at him on stage. It’s great. Something very interesting has happened jn terms of what storytelling is. Sit down, sit around. Let me tell you a story . We have a SHARED experience. So Conor taps into with his writing. It’s something very primal but also something very modern, contemporary, funny and very moving. SO IT’S AN EXTRAORDINARY GIFT. But the ENERGY of a very special profound listening is something else. Pin drop silences. It’s a magical kind of silence. (Mr. Brendan Coyle, interview)
THE MARVELLOUS INFLUENCE OF GRANDFATHERS
Reading the author’s Programme Note, we learn that Mr. Conor McPherson, in the 1980s, regularly visited his grandfather JACK who lived near Jamestown in Leitrim. Beside his little house, in the middle of a world so different from Conor’s one, there was a FAIRY FORT. In the evenings, Jack told fantastic stories from his living memory and described how his “magic” house grew up in had been built on a fairy road and had become so mysterious and infested by ghosts in a fairy mix of fact, fiction, history, religion and hearsey. Therefore this amazing and impressive kind of stories has turned into The Weir .
In conclusion, Jack (whose name has been chosen for one of The Weir ‘s characters, probably not a coincidence ) never saw any of Conor’s plays and his success because he passed away before he managed to get going as a writer. Nevertheless, something of those precious times and memories is inside his work and I believe that’s the real and true success. As the most valuable and esteemed thing is the time we share and spend with people we love, we must remember that the acquisition of memories is the most important business of life.
And “having gone through lockdown after lockdown and being reminded what HOME meant, what being Irish meant, in every sinew of your being you were reminded why you love what you live” as Mr. Peter Coonan said. “The Weir is like a Whistle, just one of those plays that if you get the chance to do it, you grab it “(interview, The Irish Times)
THE “MAGIC” BAR
“ Jack : Have you got any plans or that, for…here ?
Valerie : Not really,I’m just going to try and have some…
Jack: PEACE AND QUIET . You’re in the right place, so,ha?
Brendan: Sure, you can always stick the head in here. Or Jack, or me or whatever, be able to sort you out for anything. “ ( THE WEIR, Plays Two, NHB)
This play is set in a rural part of Ireland, Northwest Leitrim or Sligo. The stage setting is a small rural bar: old stories, old places, old expectations. The attempt to try and make these supernatural stories realistic .
That’s such a strange setting in literature, but it represents the most suitable place where bringing together the feelings of loneliness, illusion, the spiritual part of women and men, the delirious (really really funny and balanced between realistic dialogues /supernatural stories), the deep humanity . Perhaps that’s the ideal and perfect place where a” lonely shepherd “ (mentioning the title of a poignant melody composed by James Last )can easily find his PEACE,QUIET,SAFETY AND CONFIDENCE about the desire of hope and a better future. In short, the home of HUMANITY, I mean, sympathy and kindness, care and concern, affect and protection. According to me, even the music of a radio in the bar and a kind word of the barman may help to alleviate loneliness and sadness . Moreover storytelling is surely the most amazing ,moving and touching way to demonstrate and clearly show our SOLIDARITY to other people who find help (and it’s just the most extraordinary entertainment like the stories of Canterbury Tales…).
FROM DOWNTON ABBEY TO ABBEY THEATRE, FROM RED LION PUB TO THE RURAL BAR IN LEITRIM
Concerning the bar, we all remember the famous RED LION PUB in Kirbymoorside where Mr. John Bates was working in Downton Abbey series 2 ( real location in SHILTON, OXFORDSHIRE)…Well, now in The Weir Mr. Brendan Coyle has brilliantly performed in a small rural bar again, in Leitrim! Another element in common with the magnificent Downton Abbey series is the famous and mysterious OUIJA BOARD game (that Jack calls “The Luigi Board ” in a conversation with Valerie and Finbar): actually,nearing the end of Series 2 Episode 9, right before Matthew’s proposal to Mary, Anna and Daisy are at the ouija board. Both of them deny vehemently that they are controlling the disc that marks the letters…
A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
Yes indeed! The Weir Production can be considered as A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES, mentioning Mrs. Hughes’s quote in D.A. series 2 episode 4 in order to welcome the return of Mr. Bates. So we can truly state the same sentence in order to express our sincere congratulations on this phenomenal and special Abbey Theatre Production that has certainly been an extraordinary gift.
“SOMEONE I DIDN’T KNOW HAD DONE THIS FOR ME . SUCH A SMALL THING . BUT A HUGE THING IN MY CONDITION. IT FORTIFIED ME, LIKE NO MEAL I EVER HAD JN MY LIFE ” ( Jack, The Weir)
It was a pub, a little dark place,with a businesslike barman. AND HE HAD BEEN KIND…
HEARTFELT THANKS TO ABBEY THEATRE FOR SHARING THIS PRECIOUS AND EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTION !
