The Theatre and Films of Conor McPherson: Conspicuous Communities(Critical Companions)

The spellbinding premiere of The Weir at the Royal Court in 1997 was the first of many works to bring Conor McPherson to the attention of the theatre-going public. Acclaimed plays followed, including Shining City, The Seafarer, The Night Alive and Girl from the North Country, garnering international acclaim and being regularly produced around the globe. McPherson has also had significant successes as a theatre director, film director and screenwriter, most notably, with his award-winning screenplay for I Went Down. This companion offers a detailed and engaging critical analysis of the plays and films of Conor McPherson. It considers issues of gender and class disparity, violence and wealth in the cultural and political contexts in which the work is written and performed, as well as the inclusion of song, sound, the supernatural, religious and pagan festive sensibilities through which initial genre perceptions are nudged elsewhere, towards the unconscious and ineffable. Supplemented by a number of contributed critical and performance perspectives, including an interview with Conor McPherson, this is a book to be read by theatre audiences, performance-makers and students who wish to explore, contextualize and situate McPherson's provocative, exquisite and generation-defining writings and performances.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgements References and Abbreviations Introduction Career Breakthrough and Trajectory Working Assumptions and Methodology Performance Making Contexualizations Overview and Vectorisation Chapter One: Monopolies of Self/ Terms of Endearment Introduction: Stories and their Telling Monologues, Performers, Audiences Tiger Country Rum and Vodka: No Man in the Mirror The Good Thief: Degrees of Depravity This Lime Tree Bower: Three Strikes Not Out Port Authority: Last Resort Lineage Come on Over: The Third Narrator? Limelights, Spotlights, Lifelines Conclusion Chapter Two: Criminality and Caper Tragicomedy Introduction: City of Capital/Capital City I Went Down: On the Road to Nowhere? Saltwater: Finders Keepers The Actors: Infamy and Fortune Deserving and Undeserving Rich/Poor Conclusion Chapter Three: Convergent Realities: Ghosts and the Uncanny Introduction: For the Supernaturally Inclined St Nicholas: The gift/thief of a Story Shining City: Hiding in Plain Sight The Eclipse: Eleanor/Lena Paula: Immaculate Deception/Fatal Distraction Conclusion Chapter Four: Apocalyptic Dispossessions Introduction: Safe Houses and Parallel Universes The Birds: Unfitting Survival The Night Alive: The Banks are Bust The Veil: Gothic Dominoes The Girl from the North Country: The Great Escape Conclusion Chapter Five: Season's Greetings Introduction: Christmases Past Persistent Overlaps and Evolutions Dublin Carol: Till Life Do Us Part The Seafarer: Hook, Line and Sinker Seasonal Raptures Conclusion Chapter 6: Conspicuous Communities Introduction: A Pastoral Sensitivity The Weir: Sleight of Register/ Sleight of Consciousness The Story Realm Relational Mismatches Your Round Conclusion Critical Perspectives Conor McPherson in Conversation Conor McPherson's Haunted Women: The Weir, The Veil, and Paula Lisa Fitzpatrick Narrativity and the Narrator Figure in Conor McPherson's Port Authority, The Veil, and Girl from the North Country Maha Alatawi “You know?” Ben Brantley Conclusion Quantum States Convergences Chronology Notes Further Readings Notes on Contributors Index

About the Author :
Eamonn Jordan is Associate Professor in Drama Studies at the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin. His many publications on Irish theatre include: The Feast of Famine: The Plays of Frank McGuinness (1997); Theatre Stuff: Critical Essays on Contemporary Irish Theatre (2000); The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories (co-edited with Lilian Chambers, 2006); Dissident Dramaturgies: Contemporary Irish Theatre (2010); The Theatre of Conor McPherson:'Right beside the Beyond' (co-edited with Lilian Chambers, 2012); From Leenane to LA: The Theatre and Cinema of Martin McDonagh (2014), and The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre (co-edited with Eric Weitz, 2017).

Review :
Highly recommendable … [I] believe Jordan's work on McPherson's theatre and films is rigorous, thoughtful and honest, approaching the “conspicuous communities” inhabiting the fictive world from different perspectives, in a delightful edition and with a style which makes the act of reading a pleasurable experience, something which is not the rule when reading a piece of critical work. A necessary companion for those interested in the work of McPherson, contemporary Irish theatre, or indeed theatre in general, Eamonn Jordan offers detailed, authorative and accessible insights into McPherson's theatre and film from an impressive range of critical contexts. The Theatre and Films of Conor McPherson offers a comprehensive source of information about McPherson's life, career, and critical reception. It is more up to date than most of the existing books dedicated to McPherson, and by crossing the generic boundary between theatre and film, it allows us to perceive parallels and continuities that can open up new avenues for future scholarship. It is a faithful companion; and for those new to McPherson, it will probably be good company.