The Weir West End Reviews

Each performance is finely tuned. Phillips maintains icy distance as Valerie, restrained by her grief which slowly smothers her. Vaughan-Lawlor’s Finbar sparks with boyish vivacity, but we sense gently that it masks an inner vacuum beneath the spar...

Each performance is finely tuned. Phillips maintains icy distance as Valerie, restrained by her grief which slowly smothers her. Vaughan-Lawlor’s Finbar sparks with boyish vivacity, but we sense gently that it masks an inner vacuum beneath the sparky surface. If McPherson falters, it is in his overly wrought direction. Sequences are staged a little too cosily, rhythms a little too predictable, the dark comedy too caricatured. But the play’s spell remains. The Weir is not really about the supernatural at all. It is about the things we try to bury, the regrets that haunt us.

The headline star is Brendan Gleeson but The Weir is an ensemble: its characters are on different frequencies yet see each other for who they are. That goes for the locals as well as a stranger like Valerie, relocating from Dublin as a “blow-in” ...

The headline star is Brendan Gleeson but The Weir is an ensemble: its characters are on different frequencies yet see each other for who they are. That goes for the locals as well as a stranger like Valerie, relocating from Dublin as a “blow-in” while literal gales whistle outside in Gregory Clarke’s sound design. Her arrival prompts a troubling exchange of tall tales, dreams, memories and confessions but McPherson judiciously uses humour to clear the air between them. Much like a weir, the effect is simultaneously of free flow and stillness.

We already know The Weir is a masterpiece, of course. After several extensions to its inaugural run for the Royal Court’s smaller space (temporarily housed at the Ambassadors Theatre at the time), it transferred to the West End and ran for two year...

We already know The Weir is a masterpiece, of course. After several extensions to its inaugural run for the Royal Court’s smaller space (temporarily housed at the Ambassadors Theatre at the time), it transferred to the West End and ran for two years. But this production, almost 30 years on, is quite perfect. And if its three-month run doesn’t extend, it’ll surely be because the stage can’t hold Gleeson hostage from the screen for any longer.

Gleeson’s understated performance of Jack is outstanding, offering affection and understanding amongst the dry humour he presents throughout. However, the ensemble around him is what makes the production flow flawlessly. Vaughan-Lawlor’s energeti...

Gleeson’s understated performance of Jack is outstanding, offering affection and understanding amongst the dry humour he presents throughout. However, the ensemble around him is what makes the production flow flawlessly. Vaughan-Lawlor’s energetic Finbar acts as a class clown, adding superb physical humour to the play. Some of the biggest laughs of the night came from McGinley’s reserved Jim, cutting through moments of intensity with cracking one liners and impeccable comedic timing.