The Weir

As the curtain opened there was an audible gasp from the audience as we were all incredibly impressed with the set designed by Ian Henham and built by the talented team from Henfield before being dressed by Susie Shenston, Bridie Asquith and Sylvie Ashthorpe. Indeed it gleaned the first of three rounds of applause of the evening with its effectiveness at transporting us the audience to the inside of a remote Irish public house, ravaged by the cruel winds of Autumn in a year not too long ago.
Shortly thereafter we were introduced the first of the five handed cast, Trevor Hodgson playing Jack and John Pursglove delivering the character Brendan. Immediately it was apparent that director, Paul Woodcock, had encouraged his cast to commit fully to delivery of authentic Irish accents and indeed all five of the cast did so admirably.
There were a few promptings from the wings, but then it was the opening night and not only did the cast have to deal with the accents but a very wordy and naturally voiced script by Conor McPherson, that quickly enveloped you and made you feel like you were a fly on the wall in a real life situation rather than watching a play. No easy task and one that I have only experienced a couple of times before.
Jack and Brendan were soon joined by Jim played by, set designer, Ian Henham and we were given a light dusting of background to the characters, the town they lived in and some insight into the vacuities of their lives, lived in such a remote spot. However they set the expectation for the arrival of the final two characters to appear.
Finally after many a pint and 'small one' as is the Irish tradition, the final two characters joined and we met the lovely Valerie played by Emily Norman and her enthusiastic pursuer and landlord of the other local pub, The Arms, Finbar played by Graeme Muncer.
Really the whole play is just a night in an Irish pub telling stories of fairies, ghosts and lost loves and it is incredible how well written and captivating this little gem is. We do find out that Finbar had moved away and has recently returned and that Valerie is moving into the village, but beyond that it is merely reminiscing and storytelling and despite being in a single act of one hour and forty five minutes I really did not want it to end as I was simply enjoying being there.
With a rather neat little twist in the tale in the form of an inferred ghostly telephone ringing at the end, this was the only way you knew it was over and in the best possible way the piece left you wanting more and to know what happened the next day and to the characters.
The performances from every one of the cast were first class and I am, in a very rare moment, not going to single out any of them as they all brought incredible moments to the play in their own way and it would be unfair to dilute the vital input from any, so I won't.

Another cracking production from Henfield!

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