The VeilNational Theatre, 27th September-11th December, Tel: 020 7452 3000
Theatrical ghost stories tend to come in two categories. The first, like Susan Hill’s The Woman In Black, now in its 23rd year in the west end, delivers chills and thrills. The second, like The Weir and other Conor McPherson plays, uses the undead to explore the ache of living, with echoes of loss and fractured hope. In his beautifully spare, touching Shining City, McPherson combined both metaphorical and literal presentations of ghosts, a theme he is revisiting in The Veil.
Set in the crumbling glory of a grand house in rural Ireland during 1822, the plot is sparked by the arrival of defrocked Reverend Berkeley. He is to accompany 17-year-old Hannah to England, where she will marry a marquis to resolve the debts of her mother’s estate. But compelled by voices haunting his charge and a psychic current pervading the house, Berkeley proposes a séance, with catastrophic consequences.
One of the few playwrights with enough objectivity to direct his own work successfully, McPherson is again collaborating with designer Rae Smith (of War Horse fame). Further armed with lighting designer Neil Austin, one of Britain’s most expressive theatre artists, the production is set to deliver visually on the play’s thematic promise.
Theatrical ghost stories tend to come in two categories. The first, like Susan Hill’s The Woman In Black, now in its 23rd year in the west end, delivers chills and thrills. The second, like The Weir and other Conor McPherson plays, uses the undead to explore the ache of living, with echoes of loss and fractured hope. In his beautifully spare, touching Shining City, McPherson combined both metaphorical and literal presentations of ghosts, a theme he is revisiting in The Veil.
Set in the crumbling glory of a grand house in rural Ireland during 1822, the plot is sparked by the arrival of defrocked Reverend Berkeley. He is to accompany 17-year-old Hannah to England, where she will marry a marquis to resolve the debts of her mother’s estate. But compelled by voices haunting his charge and a psychic current pervading the house, Berkeley proposes a séance, with catastrophic consequences.
One of the few playwrights with enough objectivity to direct his own work successfully, McPherson is again collaborating with designer Rae Smith (of War Horse fame). Further armed with lighting designer Neil Austin, one of Britain’s most expressive theatre artists, the production is set to deliver visually on the play’s thematic promise.
