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rmhollars's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
terrancecrs's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bellreads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
jennifer64's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
spiderstapdance's review
5.0
Read for Popsugar's 2015 Reading Challenge: a book that scares you.
Hair-raising and heart-breaking. The language is superb. If you're looking for plot, I'd steer clear, but out of a course on Irish theatre this was one of my favorites.
Hair-raising and heart-breaking. The language is superb. If you're looking for plot, I'd steer clear, but out of a course on Irish theatre this was one of my favorites.
mmq's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I just think this play is great. I love the banter, the ghost stories, the slow progression of the dark themes but in particular, I appreciate the kindness shown by the characters.
The play is set in an Irish pub in Leitrim. The regular patrons we are introduced to are all men, a few of whom are bachelors. When a woman from Dublin is introduced into their space, not only do they make an effort to welcome her as an outsider, they genuinely try to empathise with her situation and open up in a vulnerable way. What transpires in the play is story telling and men showing sensitivity. I love the mention of one character describing how he nearly wept once, because a man in a pub made him a sandwich when he was sad and the simple act of kindness touched him so much. If you look past the dark and slightly macabre themes, there's a lot of heart and warmth.
The play is set in an Irish pub in Leitrim. The regular patrons we are introduced to are all men, a few of whom are bachelors. When a woman from Dublin is introduced into their space, not only do they make an effort to welcome her as an outsider, they genuinely try to empathise with her situation and open up in a vulnerable way. What transpires in the play is story telling and men showing sensitivity. I love the mention of one character describing how he nearly wept once, because a man in a pub made him a sandwich when he was sad and the simple act of kindness touched him so much. If you look past the dark and slightly macabre themes, there's a lot of heart and warmth.
arianappstrg's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
charliepope's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
luis_conte's review
2.0
2 Stars
Conon McPherson's strange play set in an Irish pub was a mildly confusing read, especially when considering it is a stage play. The play has some comedic moments and also a good premise at times however, I don't feel either is paid many dividends at the conclusion of it. This culminates into a perplexing text, which left me wondering, how this would have functioned on a stage, as well as whether there was any point to this at all?
The characters introduced in McPherson's play were certainly the highlight, each having clear defining characteristics and a specific role to play in the friendship group that is collated at the pub. McPherson does a good job of instilling a strong feeling of friendship between the group and creates an authentic sense that these men do in fact know each other and spend copious amounts of time with each other. This allows me, the reader, to feel as if I am sat at the pub with them eavesdropping on their conversation, and thus creates a useful sense of inclusion.
This leads to the central premise of the play, the storytelling aspect. This is the area that puzzled me on how it would be staged and thus took me out of the reading experience somewhat. As either the production would literally centre around barstools the entire time and in my eyes be incredibly laborious or have to jump around to miscellaneous locations for the benefit of the random stories told within the play. Which if done would feel disjointed and lack the cohesion needed to make sense. Nevertheless, as I only read the play I can only comment on how it felt on the page wherein which it still did lack consistency. I struggled to see the point in the process at all, I understand the wider objective of impressing the woman who had joined them, but I found no morals nor saw any point in the stories being told. This may have been intentional, simply to evoke a sense of friends telling stories in a pub but to me, I don't really see what is particularly interesting in that if the stories hold no weight themselves.
It must be mentioned some of the stories told did have humorous moments or indeed passages that may be deemed as "highlights," however, I feel when told in full these moments proved few and far between as opposed to being particularly memorable. As a result of this, I was left often questioning, what is the wider point of all this?
In conclusion, I don't think I'd recommend The Weir to someone who wanted to read a play, despite having a simple set and premise I was often confused and left pondering of the wider implications of all the action in the play (not in a good way), and this really detracted from my reading experience. Maybe the show is a joy on stage? But, otherwise, I am mildly perplexed as to why it garnered a few awards.
Conon McPherson's strange play set in an Irish pub was a mildly confusing read, especially when considering it is a stage play. The play has some comedic moments and also a good premise at times however, I don't feel either is paid many dividends at the conclusion of it. This culminates into a perplexing text, which left me wondering, how this would have functioned on a stage, as well as whether there was any point to this at all?
The characters introduced in McPherson's play were certainly the highlight, each having clear defining characteristics and a specific role to play in the friendship group that is collated at the pub. McPherson does a good job of instilling a strong feeling of friendship between the group and creates an authentic sense that these men do in fact know each other and spend copious amounts of time with each other. This allows me, the reader, to feel as if I am sat at the pub with them eavesdropping on their conversation, and thus creates a useful sense of inclusion.
This leads to the central premise of the play, the storytelling aspect. This is the area that puzzled me on how it would be staged and thus took me out of the reading experience somewhat. As either the production would literally centre around barstools the entire time and in my eyes be incredibly laborious or have to jump around to miscellaneous locations for the benefit of the random stories told within the play. Which if done would feel disjointed and lack the cohesion needed to make sense. Nevertheless, as I only read the play I can only comment on how it felt on the page wherein which it still did lack consistency. I struggled to see the point in the process at all, I understand the wider objective of impressing the woman who had joined them, but I found no morals nor saw any point in the stories being told. This may have been intentional, simply to evoke a sense of friends telling stories in a pub but to me, I don't really see what is particularly interesting in that if the stories hold no weight themselves.
It must be mentioned some of the stories told did have humorous moments or indeed passages that may be deemed as "highlights," however, I feel when told in full these moments proved few and far between as opposed to being particularly memorable. As a result of this, I was left often questioning, what is the wider point of all this?
In conclusion, I don't think I'd recommend The Weir to someone who wanted to read a play, despite having a simple set and premise I was often confused and left pondering of the wider implications of all the action in the play (not in a good way), and this really detracted from my reading experience. Maybe the show is a joy on stage? But, otherwise, I am mildly perplexed as to why it garnered a few awards.