Conor McPherson

Last updated

Conor McPherson
Born (1971-08-06) 6 August 1971 (age 53)
Occupation(s)Playwright, screenwriter, director

Conor McPherson (born 6 August 1971) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director of stage and film. In recognition of his contribution to world theatre, McPherson was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature in June 2013 by University College Dublin. [1]

Contents

Early life

McPherson was born in Dublin. [2] He was educated at University College Dublin and began writing his first plays there as a member of UCD Dramsoc, the college's dramatic society, and went on to found Fly by Night Theatre Company which produced several of his plays. He is considered one of the best contemporary Irish playwrights; his plays have attracted good reviews, and have been performed internationally (notably in the West End and on Broadway).

Career

The Weir opened at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End and Broadway. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play for 1999.

In the same year he was one of the recipients of the V Europe Prize Theatrical Realities awarded to the Royal Court Theatre [3] (with Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Jez Butterworth, Martin McDonagh). [4]

His 2001 play, Port Authority tells of three interwoven lives. The play was first produced by the Gate Theatre of Dublin but premiered at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London in February 2001, before moving to the Gate Theatre in April of that year. The production was directed by McPherson himself. New York's Atlantic Theater Company staged a production of the play in the spring of 2008, starring Brian d'Arcy James, and Tony Award winners John Gallagher Jr. and Jim Norton. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley said, "I found myself holding on to what these actors had to say as if I were a five-year-old at bedtime being introduced to The Arabian Nights."

McPherson also directed his play, Dublin Carol , at the Atlantic Theater Company, New York, in 2003.

His 2004 play Shining City opened at the Royal Court and prompted The Daily Telegraph to describe him as "the finest dramatist of his generation". [5] A meditation on regret, guilt and confusion, the play is set entirely within the Dublin offices of a psychiatrist who himself has psychological secrets. Whilst much of the play takes the form of monologues delivered by a patient, the everyday stories and subtle poignancy and humour make it a riveting experience. It subsequently opened on Broadway in 2006 and was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Best Play.

In September 2006, to great critical acclaim, McPherson made his National Theatre debut as both author and director with The Seafarer at the Cottesloe auditorium, starring Karl Johnson and Jim Norton, with Ron Cook as their poker-playing, Mephistophelean guest. Norton won an Olivier Award for his performance while McPherson was nominated for both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Play. In October 2007 The Seafarer opened on Broadway, keeping with it most of its creative team, including McPherson as director and both Jim Norton and Conleth Hill in their respective roles, with David Morse taking over as Sharky, and Ciarán Hinds portraying Mr. Lockhart. The production on Broadway received some positive reviews including such statements as "McPherson is quite possibly the finest playwright of his generation" [6] from Ben Brantley at The New York Times and "Succinct, startling and eerie, and the funniest McPherson play to date" [7] from The Observer. Norton's performance as Richard Harkin in The Seafarer at the National Theatre won the 2007 Best Supporting Actor Laurence Olivier Award, and he won a Tony Award in 2008 for Best Featured Actor in a play.

McPherson wrote and directed a stage adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's story The Birds , which opened in September 2009 at the Gate Theatre in Dublin.

In 2011 the National Theatre London premiered his play The Veil at the Lyttleton. Described by The Times as "a cracking fireside tale of haunting and decay" [8] it is set in 1822 and marked McPherson's first foray into period drama. This vein continued with a striking new translation of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death premiered at the Trafalgar Studios in London at the end of 2012. His version was described as "a profoundly seminal work" by The Guardian which also managed, The Times said, to be "Shockingly funny". [9]

The Donmar Warehouse mounted a season of McPherson's work in 2013 with a revival of The Weir and the world premiere of The Night Alive . The Weir was hailed once again as "A modern classic" by The Daily Telegraph and "A contemporary classic" by The Guardian [10] while The Night Alive was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play and described as "Another triumph" by The Independent on Sunday and "A masterstroke" by Time Out. The Financial Times said "sees the Irish playwright at his compassionate best." [11]

The Night Alive transferred to the Atlantic Theatre New York, where it was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play 2014, and also received Best Play nominations from the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortell Awards [12]

McPherson's play Girl from the North Country , where the dramatic action is broken up by 20 songs by Bob Dylan, opened at London's The Old Vic on 26 July 2017. [13] The play is set in a boarding house in 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota, the birthplace of Dylan. The project began when Dylan's office approached McPherson and suggested creating a play using Dylan's songs. The drama received favourable reviews. [14] [15]

Screenplays

The film of his first screenplay, I Went Down , was critically acclaimed and a great commercial success. His first feature film as a director, Saltwater , won the CICAE award for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival. His second feature film was The Actors , which he wrote and directed.

He is the director and co-writer of The Eclipse , a film which had its world premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. It was picked up for distribution by Magnolia Pictures and was released in US cinemas in spring 2010. [16] The film subsequently won the Melies D'Argent Award for Best European Film at Sitges in Spain – the world's premier horror and fantasy genre festival. At The 2010 Irish Film and Television Awards The Eclipse won the awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay. [17] Ciarán Hinds won the Best Actor Award at the Tribeca Film Festival for his portrayal of Michael Farr.

In 2013, he wrote the last episode of Quirke . In 2020, he co-wrote the feature film adaptation of the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released digitally worldwide on Disney+ on June 12, 2020.

Influences

McPherson has cited James Joyce and Stanley Kubrick as two of his "heroes". [18]

Theatre awards

Theatre-related awards won by McPherson include: [19]

Plays

Filmography

YearTitleRolesNotes
1997 I Went Down Loser in nightclubAlso writer
2000 Saltwater Director and writer
Endgame Director
Paths to Freedom Video shop assistant"Episode 4"
2002Fergus's WeddingDermot"Episode 1"
2003 The Actors Director and writer
2004 Rory O'Shea Was Here Job applicant
2009 The Eclipse Director and writer
2014 Quirke Writer, episode "Elegy for April"
2017 Paula Writer and executive producer, 3 episodes
2020 Artemis Fowl Co-writer

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dervla Kirwan</span> Irish actress (born 1971)

Dervla Kirwan is an Irish actress. She has received a number of accolades, including two IFTA Awards for her performances in the film Ondine (2009) and the RTÉ thriller series Smother (2021–2023) respectively.

Jim Norton is an Irish stage, film and television character actor, known for his work in the theatre, most notably in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, and on television as Bishop Brennan in the sitcom Father Ted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin McDonagh</span> British-Irish filmmaker and playwright (born 1970)

Martin Faranan McDonagh is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his absurdist dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won numerous accolades including an Academy Award, six BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Olivier Awards, with nominations for five Tony Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciarán Hinds</span> Irish actor (born 1953)

Ciarán Hinds is an actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Persuasion (1995), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Munich (2005), Amazing Grace (2007), There Will Be Blood (2007), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Silence (2016), First Man (2018) and Belfast (2021). He was nominated for an Oscar and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Belfast.

Risteard Cooper is an Irish actor, comedian, singer and writer and is one third of comedy trio Après Match.

Ronald G. Cook is an English actor. He has been active in film, television and theatre since the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grandage</span> British theatre director (born 1962)

Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was artistic director of Sheffield Theatres.

Shining City is a play by Conor McPherson, set in Dublin, which was first performed in the West End in 2004.

<i>Stones in His Pockets</i> 1996 play by Marie Jones

Stones in His Pockets is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Crowley (director)</span> Irish film and theatre director

John Crowley is an Irish film and theatre director. He is best known for the films Brooklyn (2015) and his debut feature, Intermission (2003), for which he won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Director. He is a brother of the designer Bob Crowley.

<i>The Weir</i> 1997 play by Conor McPherson

The Weir is a play written by Conor McPherson in 1997. It was first produced at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, England, on 4 July 1997. It opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 April 1999. As well as several other locations in the UK and the U.S., the play has been performed in Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Australia and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Coyle</span> British and Irish actor

Brendan Coyle is a British-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Repertory Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theatre company

The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre company founded in 1988.

Tom Jordan Murphy was an Irish theatre and film actor best known for his 1998 Tony Award winning performance in The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

The Seafarer is a 2006 play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. It is set on Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, a coastal suburb north of Dublin city. The play centers on James "Sharky" Harkin, an alcoholic who has recently returned to live with his blind, aging brother, Richard Harkin. As Sharky attempts to stay off the bottle during the holidays, he contends with the hard-drinking, irascible Richard and his own haunted conscience. It was nominated for multiple Tony Awards as well as the Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award for Best Play.

Dearbhla Molloy is an Irish actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Donnelly</span> Northern Irish actress (born 1982)

Laura Donnelly is a Northern Irish actress. She is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. On television, she is known for her roles in the Starz series Outlander (2014–2017), the ITV series Beowulf (2016), and the HBO series The Nevers (2021–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermot Crowley</span> Irish stage, film and television actor (born 1947)

Dermot Crowley is an Irish stage, film and television actor.

The Night Alive is a 2013 stage play by Conor McPherson which won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play 2013–14 The play premiered in London in 2013.

<i>Girl from the North Country</i> (musical) Musical by Conor McPherson

Girl from the North Country is a musical with a book by Conor McPherson and songs with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan. It is the second show to use Dylan's music after Twyla Tharp's The Times They Are a-Changin'.

References

  1. "Irish Times UCD Bloomsday Awards". The Irish Times.
  2. "Conor McPherson Biography (1970?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  3. "VII Edizione". Premio Europa per il Teatro (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  4. "Europe Theatre Prize - VII Edition - Reasons". archivio.premioeuropa.org. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  5. Charles Spencer 12:01 AM BST 11 Jun 2004 (11 June 2004). "Moving, compassionate and gripping". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 August 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. Ben Brantley (8 February 2007). "The Seafarer – There Came a Gypsy Riding – Theater – London – Column – The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  7. 19.53 EDT (28 May 2014). "Theatre: The Seafarer, A Moon for the Misbegotten and others | Stage". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. "National Theatre The Veil". Archived from the original on 13 January 2014.
  9. "Donmar Dance of Death". Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  10. "Donmar The Weir". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  11. "Donmar Night Alive". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  12. "Conor McPherson's The Night Alive scoops Best Play from New York Critics".
  13. FromTheBoxOffice (12 August 2017). "Conor McPherson's Girl from the North Country: What is it about?". FROM THE BOX OFFICE Blog. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  14. Billington, Michael (27 July 2017). "Girl from the North Country review – Dylan's songs are Depression-era dynamite". theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  15. Trueman, Matt (26 July 2017). "London Theater Review: Bob Dylan Musical 'Girl From the North Country'". Variety . Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  16. "Magnolia Pictures". Magpictures.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  17. "Irish Film & Television Network | IFTN | Ireland Film & TV News and Information | Television Production in Ireland | Film and television company directory, Irish film locations, actors, crew, industry events, jobs | The Irish Film & Television Network". Iftn.ie. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  18. "Conor McPherson Q&A: "Aged nine, I heard the Beatles. My life as an artist began"". New Statesman. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  19. "Conor McPherson – Current Member | Aosdana". Aosdana.artscouncil.ie. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  20. Karen Fricker (15 April 2005). "Review of Poor Beast in the Rain". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  21. The Nest at the Young Vic Theatre, London, directed by Ian Rickson.
  22. FromTheBoxOffice (9 June 2017). "Conor McPherson's Girl from the North Country: What is it about?". FROM THE BOX OFFICE Blog. Retrieved 10 August 2017.

Further reading