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east anglian story telling festival

The Weir

Winner of the 1997 Olivier Award for Best New Play, Conor McPherson’s chilling, modern classic The Weir embarks on a UK tour this autumn to mark its 20th Anniversary year.

In a small Irish town, the locals exchange stories round the crackling fire of Brendan’s pub to while away the hours one stormy night. As the beer and whisky flows, the arrival of a young stranger, haunted by a secret from her past, turns the tales of folklore into something more unsettling. One story, however, is more chilling and more real than any of them could have ever imagined.

A shadowy tale delving into the dark corners of human lives, The Weir is a co-production between English Touring Theatre and Mercury Theatre Colchester.

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The production is the second to be toured to the Regional Touring Network an Arts Council England Strategic Touring consortium of 9 regional venues with whom ETT produce and tour high quality drama to venues looking to develop their drama audience. It follows the success of English Touring Theatre and Orange Tree Theatre’s production of Terence Rattigan’s French Without Tears which toured in autumn 2016.

Conor McPherson is a playwright and screenwriter. He has won several awards including the George Devine Award, Stewart Parker Award and an Olivier Award. His credits for theatre include The Veil (National Theatre), The Dance of Death (Trafalgar Studios), The Night Alive (Donmar Warehouse, Atlantic Theater, New York) and The Girl from the North Country (Old Vic). For film, his credits include The Eclipse and Strangers and his television work includes Paula. He is currently working on the screenplay Double Cross.

Adele Thomas directs. Her previous directing credits include Thomas Tallis, The Oresteia and The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Shakespeare’s Globe), Unusual Unions (Royal Court), The Bloody Ballad of Mary Maid (Soho Theatre, UK tour), Apparitions of Spirits – With The Forsyte Sisters (Gagglebabble, Theatr Iolo), Write Here (Traverse Theatre), My People (National Theatre of Wales), The Blue Lenses and Under Milk Wood (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), Cityscape: Deluge/No Vacancies, The Push and the Pull and An Enemy For The People (Sherman Cymru). Her opera work includes Cosi Fan Tutte (Northern Ireland Opera) and Senendd (Welsh National Opera).

Natalie Radmall-Quirke plays Valerie. Her theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale (Cheek by Jowl),
Martyr (Actors Touring Company), The Playboy of the Western World (Southwark Playhouse), Romeo
and Juliet, Celebration and Jane Eyre (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Twelfth Night, No Romance, The Plough
and the Stars, The Comedy of Errors, An Ideal Husband (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Steel Magnolias
(Gaiety Theatre, Dublin), Mud (Gate Theatre, London), I Witness (Finborough Theatre), Footfalls
(Players Theatre) and Crave (Samuel Beckett Centre and Studiobühne, Cologne). Film credits include
Davin and The Canal.

Louis Dempsey plays Finbar. His theatre credits include Stones in His Pockets (Vienna’s English
Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe), Juno and the Paycock (Liverpool
Everyman/Bristol Old Vic Co-Production), The Seafarer (Perth Theatre and Lyric Belfast), Some Voices
(Young Vic), Wing And A Prayer (BAC), Last Apache Reunion (The Tobacco Factory) and Brothers Of
The Brush (Liverpool Everyman). Television credits include Dream Team, Sea Of Souls, Omagh and
The Bench. For film, his credits include Us and Them, Legend, Cloud Atlas, Grabbers, Six Bullets,
Revolver, The Last Drop, Spivs, Troy and Shooters.

Sean Murray plays Jack. Credits for theatre include, A Tale of Two Cities (Royal & Derngate,
Northampton and UK tour), The Hook (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), The Armour (Defibrillator at
the Langham Hotel), Holy Warriors (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Double and The Tempest (Theatre
Royal, Bath), Romeo and Juliet and The Importance of Being Earnest (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh),
Othello, The Comedy of Errors, Tartuffe, School for Scandal, The Rivals and The Life of Galileo (Bristol
Old Vic), A Woman Killed with Kindness, The Phoenician Women, Romeo and Juliet and Two
Gentlemen of Verona, The Cherry Orchard (RSC), Jane Eyre (The Ambassadors Theatre, Trafalgar
Studios 1), The Terrible Voice of Satan (Royal Court), The Crucible (UK tour) and Buried Child
(National Theatre). Television credits include Robin Hood, Dunkirk, Without Motive and Berkeley
Square. Film credits include Hamlet, A Rather English Marriage and Finding Mallory. Regular
appearances on BBC Radio 4.

John O’Dowd plays Jim. His theatre credits include Common (National Theatre), Stonebreaker (Lyric
Theatre Hammersmith), The Head of Red O Brien (Truewest), For The Birds (New York Fringe).
Television credits include Moone Boy 1,2 & 3, Don’t You Know Who I Am, Capturing Santa, The
Rahilly, Single Handed, Maru and Mobs Mheiricea. Film credits include Jimmys Hall and Don’t You
Know Who I Am.

Sam O’Mahony plays Brendan. His theatre credits include Pride and Prejudice and The Mariner (Gate
Theatre, Dublin), The Silver Tassie (National Theatre), Oh What A Lovely War (Northern Stage), The
Good Soul Of Szechuan (Young Vic), Monged (Belgrade Coventry), King John, Much Ado About
Nothing and Romeo and Juliet (RSC). Television credits include Guilt and X Company.

The Weir opens at the Mercury Theatre Colchester from 8th–16th September, for more information or to book call the Box Office on 01206 573 948 or visit www.mercurytheatre.co.uk. The tour is to visit Harrogate, Cheltenham, Doncaster, Bristol, Exeter, Oldham, Poole and Huddersfield. 

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