Cillian Murphy Stars in US Premiere of GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS at St. Ann's Warehouse

St. Ann's Warehouse continues a season of powerhouse productions with the premiere of Enda Walsh's acclaimed adaptation of Max Porter's bestselling novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, April 20-May 12. Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Inception, Batman Begins) has reunited with Walsh, following his stunning turns in Misterman, Disco Pigs, and the original cast of Ballyturk. The play, a Wayward Production in association with Complicité, comes to St. Ann's Warehouse, Walsh's longtime U.S. home, immediately after its London premiere at The Barbican.

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is set in a London flat, where two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness. In this moment of despair, they are visited by Crow-antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him.

Upon the novel's U.S. publication in 2016, it was hailed by NPR as "funny-in a jet-black way-yet also fiercely emotional, capturing the painful sucker-punch of loss with fresh immediacy that rivals Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking." Bringing Porter's text to life, Walsh again collaborates with artists who have variously helped him create highly acclaimed works including Ballyturk, Arlington, and Misterman: set designer Jamie Vartan, lighting designer Adam Silverman, sound designer Helen Atkinson, and composer Teho Teardo. The creative team also features costume designer Christina Cunningham and projection designer Will Duke. Walsh consistently renders complete, almost hermetically sealed worlds on stage. In Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, the apartment set itself becomes an extension of the ubiquitous Crow.

The cast features Cillian Murphy (Dad), David Evans (Older Boy), Leo Hart (Younger Boy), Hattie Morahan (Mum), Taighen O'Callaghan (Older Boy), and Adam Pemberton (Younger Boy).

St. Ann's 2018-2019 Season has featured the runaway successes of Daniel Fish's Oklahoma! (which just began previews on Broadway), and the "ravishing, devastating (New York Times) The Jungle, now making its West Coast premiere at The Curran. The Wooster Group's "astonishing" (New York Magazine) The B-Side has just been extended through March 31.

Performance Schedule, Tickets, and Running Time

St. Ann's Warehouse presents Grief Is the Thing with Feathers April 20-May 12 2019. Performances take place at 8pm on April 20, 23-27, & 30 and May 1-4 & 7-11; and at 5pm April 21 & 28, and May 5 & 12.

On Wednesday, April 24 following the 8pm performance, there will be a Voices On Talkback with members of the cast and creative team.

Tickets start at $51 and are available now at stannswarehouse.org, 718.254.8779, and 866.811.4111.

Photo by Tim Walker