The Weir
ACT brings play by Conor McPherson to Watermark Theatre
ACT (A Community Theatre) is bringing The Weir by Irish playwright Conor McPherson to Island venues this month.
The Weir spans a single night in a bar near Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim, the most rural county in the Republic of Ireland. Set in the 1990s, the play is a modern story but also reaches far enough back in time to feature the telling of ghost stories and supernatural occurrences as an everyday part of life.
The Weir will be on stage at Watermark Theatre in North Rustico, with performances on November 7–9 and 13–15. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
On November 16, The Weir will be staged at the Irish Cultural Centre in Charlottetown. Doors will open for a luncheon at 6:30 pm, with the play starting at 7:30 pm. This event, presented by the Benevolent Irish Society, will also feature a 50/50 draw. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Heading the production team are Carter Baird as producer, Gordon Cobb as director, and ACT veteran Sharon MacDonald as stage manager. The play stars Laura Stapleton as Valerie, Brian Matthie as Jack, Malachi Rowswell as Brendan, Sam Edgcomb as Jim, and Ryan Whitty as Finbar.
“It’s all about the cast,” says Cobb, inspired to stage The Weir after ACT’s nearly sold-out run of West Moon by Al Pittman in October 2023 at the Watermark Theatre. “Rural people with a flair for language. Deep pathos with a very strong dose of the supernatural. And, the perfect theatre for it.”
Bringing to life the play’s only female character, Valerie, is ACT stalwart Laura Stapleton who played romantically starved Maggie in West Moon. Brian Matthie, who played Captain Bill Sullivan in West Moon, performs the role of Jack, a not so prosperous mechanic and the elder of the story, who must contend with the frustration of a non-functioning Guinness tap right off the top of the play.
Soon joining Jack in his own bar is Brendan, played by Malachi Rowswell who performed in ACT’s production of Sweeney Todd and Wizard of Oz at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Rounding out the play’s trio of bachelors is Jim, helper to Jack, and horse race betting savant, played by Sam Edgcomb, who most recently performed in the soon-to-be-released Film4Ward supported short film, The Last Iceboat.
Fresh from his role as Tom Collins in ACT’s highly successful production of the musical RENT, Sheridan College alumnus Ryan Whitty plays Finbar, a prosperous entrepreneur and the play’s sole married man who has just spent the day providing a tour of the area to Valerie, newly arrived from Dublin.
Tickets are available via Eventbrite.