Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatres and The Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, have set up a co-producing partnership which brings The Weir, brings to Wales.
The cast includes Steven Elliott, Richard Clements, Orla Fitzgerald, Simon Wolfe and Patrick Moy. Directed by Rachel O’Riordan, the co-production is set in a remote bar in rural Ireland, where four friends and one stranger find solace in sharing stories ranging from the heartwarming and humorous to the darkly confessional.
The Weir is a multi-award winning play, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play of 1997-98 as well as McPherson’s Critics’ Circle Award and Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright in 1998.
Richard Clements (Jim) has made numerous stage and screen appearances, including regularly appearing on BBC’s The Fall in the role of Rick Turner. His onstage performances include the Edinburgh Fringe First award winning Spoiling in 2014. He has worked with Rachel O’Riordan on several past productions including Over the Bridge and Arguments for Terrorism. He trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and now returns to Cardiff.
Steven Elliott (Finbar) has most recently appeared in numerous productions with Theatr Clwyd, where he is also an associate artist, including Jumpy and Cyrano De Bergerac. His onstage appearances also include the National Theatre’s Frankenstein and The Winter’s Tale.
Orla Fitzgerald (Valerie) is an Irish stage actress now based in London. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Breakthrough Artist at the Irish Film and Television Awards for Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or award winning The Wind That Shakes the Barley as well as being nominated for Best Actress for the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. Most recently, she played the role of Winnie Carley in Fishamble’s Inside the GPO. Her other onstage appearances include: The Comedy of Errors (Royal Exchange Theatre), Out of Joint’s BANG BANG BANG and Uncle Vanya (Lyric Belfast).
Patrick Moy (Brendan) is an Irish actor, nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Malcolm in Macbeth at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre. He also provides the voice for Pickle on CBeebies’ Footy Pups. He has previously worked with companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company and has recently completed a US tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Actors From the London Stage.
Simon Wolfe (Jack) has appeared recently in War Horse at the New London Theatre; Orpheus Descending at Royal Exchange, Manchester and Punk Rock at the Lyric Hammersmith, Royal Exchange. He has previously played the role of Brendan in the Royal Courts tour of The Weir 15 years ago in 2001.
Rachel said, “Conor McPherson is an extraordinary writer, whose work is layered, complex and brilliantly humane. The Weir is one of the great contemporary plays, which moves between the earthly and the supernatural, between ancient and modern. It is a play steeped in sadness, but which illuminates, too, the power of community, friendship and love. It speaks of hope, in the darkest of hours. McPherson has the rare ability to capture how unpredictable, flawed and strange people really are. It is this which makes him so accessible and exciting.”
Director and Artistic Director, Rachel O’Riordan is re-joined by the creative team of Kenny Miller (Bird, A Doll’s House, Romeo and Juliet; Sherman Theatre) whose set will feature a fully working bar as well as sound designer and composer Simon Slater (Bird, A Doll’s House, Arabian Nights; Sherman Theatre) and lighting designer Kevin Treacy (Bird, A Doll’s House, Romeo and Juliet; Sherman Theatre).
They are joined by Chelsey Goddard as Assistant Director
The co-production opens at the Sherman Theatre, 7 – 22 October, before heading to Tobacco Factory Theatres, 25 October – 5 November.
Tickets : shermantheatre.co.uk or at tobaccofactory.com.
@ShermanTheatre | @tftheatres | #TheWeir
Main image Steven Elliott