About the Book
A wry, moving, funny tale of how modern man faces up to the responsibility of love, woven in monologues, from the multi-award winning author of The Weir.
A boy leaves home for the first time. A man starts a job for which he is not qualified. A pensioner has just been sent a mysterious package.
Away from bar-room bravado, three men show us the reality of big dreams and missed chances, of loves lost and trouble found, of the messiness of life and the quirkiness of fate.
Conor McPherson's play Port Authority was first performed in a production by the Gate Theatre, Dublin, at the New Ambassadors Theatre, London, in February 2001.
The production subsequently transferred to the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in April 2001.
'Totally absorbing, often hilarious and, at times, heart-wrenchingly moving... An act of pure theatre'
— Irish Times
'A work by a major writer... His sentences are better, his sentiments more developed and shaded than many Booker Prize-winners. He is terrific.'
— Observer
About the Author :
Conor McPherson is a playwright, screenwriter and director, born in Dublin in 1971.
His plays include: Rum and Vodka (Fly by Night Theatre Co., Dublin); The Good Thief (Dublin Theatre Festival; Stewart Parker Award); This Lime Tree Bower (Fly by Night Theatre Co. and Bush Theatre, London; Meyer-Whitworth Award); St Nicholas (Bush Theatre and Primary Stages, New York); The Weir (Royal Court, London, Duke of York's, West End and Walter Kerr Theatre, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, George Devine Awards); Dublin Carol (Royal Court and Atlantic Theater, New York); Port Authority (Ambassadors Theatre, West End, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Atlantic Theater, New York); Shining City (Royal Court, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York; Tony Award nomination for Best Play); The Seafarer (National Theatre, London, Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Tony Award nominations for Best Play); The Veil (National Theatre); The Night Alive (Donmar Warehouse, London and Atlantic Theater, New York); Girl from the North Country (Old Vic, London) and The Brightening Air (Old Vic, London, 2025).
Theatre adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin and Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis), August Strindberg's The Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar Studios), Franz Xaver Kroetz's The Nest (Young Vic, London), Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (West End, 2020) and Paweł Pawlikowski's Cold War (Almeida Theatre, 2023).
Work for the cinema includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, The Actors, The Eclipse and Strangers.
His work for television includes an adaptation of John Banville's Elegy for April for the BBC, and the original television drama Paula for BBC2.
Awards for his screenwriting include three Best Screenplay Awards from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Best Screenplay Award; the CICAE Award for Best Film Berlin Film festival; Jury Prize San Sebastian Film Festival; and the Méliès d'Argent Award for Best European Film.
Review :
'Totally absorbing, often hilarious and, at times, heart-wrenchingly moving... An act of pure theatre'
'A work by a major writer... His sentences are better, his sentiments more developed and shaded than many Booker Prize-winners. He is terrific.'
