THE WEIR. To 22 April.

Southampton/Tour

THE WEIR
by Conor McPherson

Nuffield Theatre To 19 February then tour to 22 April 2005
Runs 1hr 45mins No interval

TICKETS: 23 8067 1771
www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk
Review Hazel Brown 8 February

Strange stories on a windy night generally disappoint.This play received rave reviews and awards when first produced in London and so I looked forward to seeing a new production in the south. However, for reasons I find hard to define, I was disappointed with this evening.

In a pub deep in rural Ireland, a regular customer, Jack, arrives and helps himself. Shortly, Brendan, the young publican arrives and starts sorting out the fire, bar and tables. A little later another regular, Jim, turns up. These three are stuck in this rural backwater, one by an unprofitable farm, another by an ageing mother and the last by lassitude. They gossip with barely disguised envy about Finbar, the local man made good, who is showing a newcomer around the area.

When Finbar arrives in the pub with Valerie, the attractive new blow-in', the mood lifts. In talking about the area and showing Valerie some photographs of the area, the men fall into telling strange stories almost ghost stories about fairies, knocking, people on stairs and ringing phones. As Andrew Wheaton tells Finbar's story, he creates a wonderful air of tension no doubt born of his previous experience in telling Russ Tunney's Candlelit Ghost Stories. However, the soft Irish accents of the others as they tell their stories induced a soporific air, rather than creating tension. This meant that by the time Valerie came to tell her story, the shock of what she reveals falls too softly into the smoke filled room.

I have thought long and hard about why this production failed to grip and think I have to blame it on the vast expanse of the stage in the Nuffield. This play is set (or should be) in a small, smoky, low-ceilinged pub, where the claustrophobic atmosphere would heighten the menace of the stories and emphasise the interdependence of all the characters. However, the size of the stage and the space the actors need to inhabit dissipates and dilutes the required atmosphere. Intimacy and proximity are essential and, if other venues on the tour can provide this, then it is worth catching up with this modern classic.

Jack: Terry Jermyn
Valerie: Denise McCormack
Jim: Rory Murray
Brendan: KevinO'Leary
Finbar: Andrew Wheaton

Director: Russ Tunney
Designer: Becky Hawkins
Lighting: Mark Dymock
Composer/Musical Director: Matt Baker

2005-02-10 00:16:16