The Weir
by
Conor McPherson
Directed by Richard Gant

A weir, a small dam, holds back water much as many social occasions hold back our real feelings and prevent the free flow of communication. Once the weir is breached, however, there is no telling where the water will go.

In a small pub in the Northwest of Ireland, a few regulars greet a local land owner and a woman from Dublin who has bought a house from him. They banter and spar verbally with each other. Then one of the men tells a strange story about the house that the woman has just bought.

Once started, the storytelling flows rapidly, each one becoming stranger. Then the woman surprises the men with a story of her own. The barriers come down, and real comradeship develops.

The dialect is authentic, and the language is sometimes rather “salty,” making the play not suitable for children under 13. It is through the language that we learn to value these characters as real people, not much different from ourselves.