Get tickets now to "the most critically acclaimed play of the season" (Rolling Stone). The Chicago Tribune calls THE FERRYMAN "a sprawling, Shakespearean masterpiece and the best new play of the year." Written by Jez Butterworth and directed Sam Mendes, this "new, instant and monumental classic" (HuffPost) has been ranked on more "Top 10" lists than any other show. New York Times critic Ben Brantley says, "It's the Broadway production of the year."
It's 1981 in Northern Ireland, and the Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. The Hollywood Reporter says, "This crackling thriller positively thrums with life and love. It will leave you breathless." And The New Yorker raves, "As you sit in the audience, you know you are watching theatre history happen." Don't miss THE FERRYMAN - "the must-see drama of the year" (Time Out).
Sam Mendes directs, with scenic & costume design by Rob Howell, lighting design by Peter Mumford, sound design & original music by Nick Powell, and choreography by Scarlett Mackmin.
To reveal more would be indefensible, as Butterworth, under the impeccable direction of Mendes, with a flawless cast from young to old (including Fra Fee, Niall Wright and Carla Langley as the eldest Carneys), detail-perfect sets and costumes from Rob Howell, takes this play in directions you won't see coming. The Ferryman toys with what it knows we know - an exuberant Irish jig can't help but remind of Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, until it goes full-out punk. The gentle Of Mice and Men danger of Tom Kettle, the bloody shocks we've seen from the likes of Martin McDonagh - everything gets rearranged, and you just might gasp at the power and poetry that brings The Ferryman to a close even as you know it had to come to this.
That ominous opening weighs on everything that follows, as we meet that family, the Carney clan: Quinn (British film star Paddy Considine, who made his stage debut in the London production), his ailing wife Mary (Genevieve O'Reilly), his sister-in-law Caitlin (Donnelly) and assorted aunts, uncles, offspring and cousins. It is harvest day and there's much work - and feasting - to be done, the vivid family dynamics brought to life with care by a cast that has no weak links and by director Sam Mendes, a frequent Butterworth collaborator.
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