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Conor McPherson

CONOR MCPHERSON

  (1971 - )
Nationality:    Irish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Curtis Brown Group Ltd  

Conor McPherson was born in Dublin in 1971. His plays include Rum & Vodka (Fly by Night Theatre Company, Dublin), the Good Thief (Dublin Theatre Festival; Stewart Parker Award), This Lime Tree Bower (Fly by Night Theatre Company, Dublin/Bush Theatre; Meyer-Whitworth Award), St Nicholas (Bush Theatre/Primary Stages, New York), the Weir (Royal Court/Duke of York's/Walter Kerr Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, George Devine Awards), Dublin Carol (Royal Court/Atlantic Theater, New York), Port Authority (Ambassadors Theatre/Gate Theatre, Dublin/Atlantic Theater, New York), Shining City (Royal Court/Gate Theatre, Dublin/Manhattan Theater Club, New York; Tony Award nomination for Best Play), the Seafarer (National Theatre/Abbey Theatre, Dublin/Booth Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Tony Award nominations for Best Play) and the Veil (National Theatre). Theatre adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's the Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin/Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis) and August Strindberg's the Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar Studios). Work for the cinema includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, the Actors, and the Eclipse. Forthcoming screen work includes an adaptation of John Banville's Elegy for April for the BBC to be broadcast this year. Awards for his screenwriting include three Best Screenplay Awards from the Irish Film and Television Academy, the Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Best Screenplay Award, the CICAE Award for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival, the Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Melies d'Argent Award for Best European Film.

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below is a list of Conor McPherson's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Birds, The         Come On Over         Dance Of Death         Dublin Carol         Girl From The North Country         Good Thief, The         Inventing Fortune's Wheel         Light in the Window of Industry, A         Michelle Pfeiffer         Nest, The         Night Alive, The         Port Authority         Radio Play - Concerning Communication         Rum And Vodka         Scenes Federal         Seafarer, The         Shining City         St Nicholas         Stars Lose their Glory, The         Taking Stock         This Lime Tree Bower         Veil, The         Weir, The
Birds, The

Birds, The
Mysterious masses of birds have begun to violently attack at high tide, driving strangers Nat and Diane to take refuge in an isolated, abandoned house by the sea and form a bond to survive their haunting new circumstance. With no electricity and scarce food, the tension is palpable and hope is waning. Yet if two is company, three is a crowd, as the sudden arrival of a young woman with a mysterious nature of her own ruffles feathers in the house and quickly threatens to destroy their so-called sanctuary.

Notes:
Based on the 1952 short story by Daphne Du Maurier

1st Produced:
The Gate, Dublin     29 Sep 2009

Organisations:
Gate Theatre

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London (2014) >>>
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2015)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
short adaptation

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Come On Over

Synopsis:
the story of Matthew and Margaret, childhood sweethearts who are now in their fifties. He is a Jesuit who investigates miracles for the Vatican; she runs a rural bed and breakfast. When he is sent to see the 400-year-old remains of a girl found in their h

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in McPherson Collected Plays 2, Nick Hern Books, London, 2004   

Music:
-

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Genre:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  two chairs

Further Reference:
-

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Dance Of Death

Synopsis:
the tale of an embittered couple, Edgar and Alice, who have a marriage soured by hatred. When Alice's opportunity for escape arrives with her former comrade Kurt, Edgar does all he can to make their lives a living hell.

Notes:
Original Playwright - August Strindberg

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Donmar Trafalgar

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2015)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Dublin Carol

Dublin Carol
centers around John Plunkett, an undertaker in his late fifties. the play is divided into three scenes, all of which take place in his office in Dublin on Christmas Eve. In the morning we see John interacting with Mark, a twenty-year-old boy who is helping John while the boss, Noel, is in hospital having tests. John and Mark return from a funeral service, and John regales Mark with stories from his past, and how he met Noel, who is incidentally, Mark's uncle. Noel saved John from a life of alcoholism and gave him a job here. John seems anxious for Mark to keep him company this morning, and he only allows him to leave when the whiskey he is knocking back runs out. the next scene sees the arrival of Mary, John's estranged daughter who's in her thirties. She implores John to come and see Helen, his wife and her mother. She is sick in hospital and has asked to see John. John abandoned his family twenty years ago, and his feelings of guilt and anguish make him turn angrily on Mary. But he finally agrees to go. Mar

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:

1st Published:
in Conor McPherson Four Plays, Nick Hern Books, London, 1999   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Girl From The North Country

Girl From The North Country
The play's action is set in a guesthouse in Duluth, Minnesota, in the winter of 1934. The guesthouse proprietor, Nick Laine, owes more money than he can ever repay, while his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is pregnant with a child that no one will account for. When a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback turn up in the middle of the night, things spiral beyond the point of no return. Interwoven with the action are songs selected by Conor McPherson from the extensive songbook of Bob Dylan.

Notes:
written by Conor McPherson with music and lyrics by Bob Dylan

1st Produced:
Old Vic, London     26 Jul 2017

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play with music

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  5            Other:  ensemble and Band

Further Reference:
TR  37/2017  782   TR 38/2018  17   TR 39/2019

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Good Thief, The

Good Thief, The
the story of a paid thug's flight from his bosses and the guards across Ireland with, in his care, the wife and daughter of the man he is supposed to threaten

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
City Arts Centre, Dublin     1994

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
in "This Lime Tree Bower", Hern, London, 1996   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Monologue One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Inventing Fortune's Wheel

Synopsis:
Kevin, an engineering graduate, returns from work on an irrigation project in Melai, without the answers he went there to find. the play follows the first days of Kevin's return to Ireland.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Firken Crane Centre, Shandon, Cork     1994

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Light in the Window of Industry, A

Synopsis:
Joe's grant from the IDA has stopped and it looks like his graphic design agency will fold. He must fire his one employee, Jill, but how can he do it diplomatically? What starts with Joe's fatuous banter leads to something more serious

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
International Bar, Dublin     1993

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Michelle Pfeiffer

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
University College Dublin     1990

Organisations:
DramSoc

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Nest, The

Nest, The
Martha and Kurt are expecting a baby. They want the best for it and Kurt does all the overtime he can get. Baby Stefan is born and the overtime dries up. But there is one special job Kurt's boss can offer him, dumping some barrels of 'bad wine'. He dumps it in their favourite lake and when baby Stefan goes swimming later that day he is badly burnt. Their world is turned upside down

Notes:
Original Playwright - Franz Xaver Kroetz

1st Produced:
Lyric, Belfast     01 Oct 2016

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books 2016   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Night Alive, The

Night Alive, The
You only get a few goes. At life. You don't get endless goes. Two, three goes maybe. When you hit the right groove you'll click right in there. . .this is it. Tommy's not a bad man, he's getting by. Renting a run-down room in his uncle Maurice's house, just about keeping his ex-wife and kids at arm's length and rolling from one get-rich-quick scheme to the other with his pal Doc. then one day he comes to the aid of Aimee, who's not had it easy herself, struggling through life the only way she knows how. their past won't let go easily. But together there's a glimmer of hope they could make something more of their lives. Something extraordinary. Perhaps.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books 2013
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2014)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Port Authority

Port Authority
In Port Authority, we meet Kevin, Dermot and Joe, three generations of Dublin men. their stories, told by means of three interlocking monologues, explore the possibilities they have had in their lives for happiness and love.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Gate Theatre

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London >>>
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2015)   

Music:
Complete unabridged studio recording: Naxos Audiobooks 9789626342435

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
15 monologues One Act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Radio Play - Concerning Communication

Synopsis:
Through the night, Joe Walshe presents 'the John & Jane Doe show' on DBR+J27 107.1FM where he tries very hard to highlight the richness and glamour of the lives of ordinary folk: housewife Anne, superintendent Brian, poet Kevin, theology guru Eddie, and recently-freed pal Bob. Meanwhile, the rest of the world - pubescent boys, call girls, technicians, bar-stool intellectuals, nurses, and louts - carries on undeterred.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
International Bar, Dublin     1992

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  14            Female:  4            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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Rum And Vodka

Rum And Vodka
A young Irishman with a drink problem tells of three momentous days in his life when his drab nine-to-five existence is obliterated in an escapist binge which threatens to engulf him.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
City Arts Centre, Dublin     1994

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
in "This Lime Tree Bower", Hern, London, 1996   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Monologue One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Scenes Federal

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
University College Dublin     1991

Organisations:
DramSoc

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Seafarer, The

Seafarer, The
It's Christmas Eve and Sharky has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, ageing brother whos recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are holed up at the house too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arrival of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are raised ever higher. In fact, Sharky may be playing for his very soul. . .."I hope your eye is in. I hope your game is up. Because to tell you the truth, I'd love a run for my money just once. Or maybe you just feel like giving in. Maybe it's a relief to finally be set free from the jaws of God's wilderness, is it?"

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Shining City

Shining City
Ian has left the priesthood to become a therapist. John is one of his first clients. John's wife has been killed in a car accident, and he keeps seeing her ghost. As John recovers with Ian's help, Ian himself is going under with troubles of his own.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London, 2004   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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St Nicholas

St Nicholas
Buffy Summers moves to Sunnydale after burning down the school gym. She hopes to escape from being the Chosen One, however the librarian Rupert Giles is her new Watcher and Sunnydale is built over a portal to Hell. With two friends Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg they battle demons and vampires. The Master an ancient vampire is trying to get the portal open. Then Buffy falls for vampire Angel

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Bush Theatre

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London, 1997   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Monologue One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Stars Lose their Glory, The

Synopsis:
Neil and Stephen are two opinionated reviewers for a small publishing house. Chris, their boss, lets it drop to Neil that it might be in his interest to recommend a 'tell-all' rock memoir. Stephen, on the other hand, thinks the book should be used as lavatory paper. How can Neil convince Stephen of the book's merits without compromising his integrity?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
International Bar, Dublin     1994

Organisations:
Fly By night Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Taking Stock

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
University College Dublin     1989

Organisations:
DramSoc

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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This Lime Tree Bower

This Lime Tree Bower
In overlapping monologues, three young men from a small seaside town near Dublin tell of their inextricably linked lives and the eventful week which was to change things for good.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Fly by Night Theatre Company and Iomha Ildanach

1st Published:
in "This Lime Tree Bower", Hern, London, 1996   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Veil, The

Veil, The
May 1822, rural Ireland. the defrocked Reverend Berkeley arrives at the crumbling former glory of Mount Prospect House to accompany seventeen-year-old Hannah to England. She is to be married off to a Marquis in order to resolve the debts of her mother's estate. However, compelled by the strange voices that haunt his beautiful young charge and a fascination with the psychic current that pervades the house, Berkeley proposes a seance, the consequences of which are catastrophic. She says that sometimes, while she plays the piano, she can hear someone. . . singing. Or crying. I forget which. Set around a haunted house hemmed in by a restive, starving populace, Conor McPherson's new play weaves Ireland's troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental and the circularity of time.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London (2011) >>>
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2015)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Weir, The

Weir, The
In a bar in rural Ireland, the landlord and three regulars attempt to spook a young woman who has recently arrived from Dublin. But as the conversation moves on it is Valerie who scares the men.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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