Plays

Synopsis

This volume of Conor McPherson's collected plays, covering a decade of writing, celebrates a fascination with the uncanny which has led him to be described as 'quite possibly the finest playwright of his generation' (<i>New York Times</i>).

In <b><i>Shining City</i></b>, a man seeks help from a counsellor, claiming to have seen the ghost of his dead wife.

The play, premiered at the Royal Court, London, is 'up there with The Weir, moving, compassionate, ingenious and absolutely gripping' (<i>Daily Telegraph</i>)

<b><i>The Seafarer</i></b>, premiered at the National Theatre before going on to become a Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, tells the story of an extended Christmas Eve card game, but one played for the highest stakes possible.

'McPherson proves yet again he is both a born yarn-spinner and an acute analyst of the melancholy Irish manhood' (<i>Guardian</i>)

Set in 'the big house' in 1820s rural Ireland, <b><i>The Veil</i></b> is McPherson's first period play.

Seventeen-year-old Hannah is to be married off in order to settle the debts of the crumbling estate.

But when Reverend Berkeley arrives, determined to orchestrate a séance, chaos is unleased.

'A cracking fireside tale of haunting and decay' (<i>The Times</i>)

<b><i>The Birds</i></b>, hauntingly adapted from the short story by Daphne du Maurier, is 'deliciously chilling, claustrophobic, questioning, frightening; and with a twist' (Irish Independent).

It is published here for the first time, as is <i>The Dance of Death</i>, a new version of Strindberg's classic, which premiered at the Trafalgar Studios in London.

'A spectacularly bleak yet curiously bracing drama that often makes you laugh out loud' (<i>Daily Telegraph</i>)

Completing the volume is a Foreword by the author.

Themes

• Arranged marriage--Drama
• Arranged marriage
• Card games
• Card games--Drama
• Christmas plays
• Counselors
• Counselors--Drama
• Ghost plays
• PR6063.C73 A6 2013
• Seances
• Seances--Drama