New Cast for Award-Winning Weir from 1 April
Date: 19 February 1999
A new cast takes over from the end of this month in the award-winning West End production of Conor McPherson's The Weir at the Duke of York's Theatre (Royal Court Downstairs). The change will allow the current cast - Kieran Ahern, Dermot Crowley, Jim Norton, Michelle Fairley and Brendan Coyle - to transfer to the Broadway production which will open 1 April at New York's Walter Kerr Theatre (previews from 11 March).
This past week The Weir added two Oliviers - Best New Play and Best Supporting Performance for Brendan Coyle - to its already impressive list of accolades which includes the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer Award for McPherson and Best New Play honours in 1997 at both the Critics Circle and George Devine Awards.
It's another all-Irish cast for the tale of hauntings and ghost stories from the Emerald Isle, with Sean Gleeson (fresh from playing Conor in TV's EastEnders) as 'Brendan' the bartender, Niall Buggy (who won an Olivier for his performance in Terry Johnson's Dead Funny) as 'Jack', Tony Rohr as 'Jim', Stanley Townsend as 'Finbar' and Cathy White as 'Valerie'.
This is the third run for The Weir at the Royal Court - it was originally commissioned for the Royal Court Upstairs - and its first commercial run, having started an open-ended engagement in October 1998. In addition to the Broadway production, a UK touring production kicked off this month, on 10 February in Bury St Edmunds. It will visit ten UK cities from now until 1 May.
The Weir focuses on a group of bachelors who gather in their local pub one afternoon and compete to charm Valerie, a pretty young newcomer from Dublin. The discussion round the bar wends its way through friendly jibes, local history lessons and bashful flirtations before turning spooky, as each recalls their favourite ghost stories.
The Weir is directed by Ian Rickson, with design by Rae Smith, lighting by Paule Constable, music by Stephen Warbeck and sound by Paul Arditti.
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