The Weir
- ckmgmnt
- Jul 30
- 1 min read
I found myself wanting to engage with this production, but felt frustrated due to the direction and the acting being stogdy. Ciarán O’Reilly deftly puts pictures in front of us, but those pictures remain immobile for lengthy periods of time. Val has a long speech about the death of her daughter and neither Jack, Finbar, Brendan or Jim move. Only when Val says, ‘she was dead’, did two of the actors shift. While Val is seen as an outsider, the humanity of her speech (the loss of a child) would seem to warrant more.
The set is realistic as a pub scene, with the added touch of a Bacardi bat to support the spooky theme. I felt the column that contained the stove inhibited line of sight for the audience. This was minor, however, as only one piece of action went behind it.
Lighting was simplified, and Michael Gottlieb reinforces emotional moments by raising the intensity of the lights, and dimming them after the pub closes and the play winds down.
The Weir
Irish Rep
132 West 22nd St, New York, NY
90 minutes
07/17/25 - 08/31/25