THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
By Conor McPherson
Harold Pinter Theatre, 4 Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN until December 6, 2025
On a stormy winter’s night three local men gather in an isolated pub in the west of Ireland. They banter and bicker and their world is disrupted with the arrival of local business man and show-off Finbar, who arrives with a woman called Valerie, a visitor. Barman Brendan keeps the drink flowing and they get on to telling tall tales and eventually ghost stories, partly to impress her. These are gripping and rather unsettling until she gets to reveal a profoundly personal story of her own which leaves them all rather shaken. And that’s it. Don’t expect action, but yet you will be riveted.
It's nearly thirty years since the then 25 year old Conor McPherson burst on the scene with this fully formed masterpiece, first staged by the Royal Court in a tiny studio space. Since then, it’s been garlanded with awards and international productions and has become a cornerstone of contemporary Irish theatre.
McPherson himself directs here (something, he revealed in an interview, he normally reserves for premieres as he uses the actors’ interpretation to finish his plays) and here he’s assembled a practically perfect cast, led by Irish national treasure Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges, Into the Storm). If he was British he’d be a Sir by now.
Gleeson plays Jack, an aging garage owner with a gruff and sardonic manner which masks a deeper well of loneliness and regret about a lost romance and the road not taken. An imposing figure, Gleeson has that signature mix of power and gentleness which is utterly compelling and which he combines with razor sharp comic timing.
Sean McGinley, another Irish acting great, plays his sidekick, Jim. More shy and dutiful and prone to some perfectly gauche utterances, he cares for his elderly mother on their lonely farm. It’s testament to how this play is set in an Ireland that’s now gone when Jim complains he might only get “20k for the lot”. Not in today’s Ireland. McGinley brings a touching poignance to Jim, a change from the more commanding or sinister roles which he excels at such as in McPherson’s recent play The Brightening Air at the Old Vic.
Owen McDonnel (Bad Sisters, Killing Eve) plays Brendan. Ever the hospitable and observant publican he knows how to lead a conversation without dominating it. Again, his own loneliness surfaces subtly, highlighting the quiet heartache that pervades the play.
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Dancing at Lughnasa, Say Nothing) is perfectly irritating as the garrulous local businessman Finbar. He springs around like a hare, eager to impress Valerie, but his attempts at bravado only hide his own insecurities and as the night wears on his façade slips.
Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, Wolf Hall) impresses too as Valerie. Her initial wry bemusement at these ageing barflies gives way to a real human connection with them. Recently moved from Dublin and still grieving a personal tragedy (no spoiler) the emotional impact of her story draws the group closer together.
The act of storytelling becomes a means of connection, allowing the characters to confront their own loneliness and regrets. The remote setting too reinforces a sense of solitude, both physical and emotional, and each character is, in some way, haunted. The play is less about the supernatural and more about the solace people find in sharing their vulnerabilities.
Rae Smith’s set perfectly immerses you in this rural out of the way pub where even Harp drinkers are shunned and ordering wine creates ructions. Mark Henderson’s lighting and Gregory Clarke’s sound are so good they’re not noticed but they help focus the audiences deep concentration here.
McPherson is great at portraying this strain of Irish masculinity and he draws amazingly nuanced performances from the ensemble. The men, initially guarded and competitive, slowly reveal a softer side. Emotions are mediated through banter, and this cast perfectly mine every phrase for its emotional or comic effect. There’s a big message about community here too and how it can offer comfort in the face personal pain. Drama is in the empathy business, and this is needed more now than ever.
