One of the nation’s most acclaimed playwrights, Conor McPherson has examined the Irish condition in forensic detail in plays and films such as The Weir, Port Authority and Saltwater. In his new play Shining City, McPherson uses the disturbed psyches of his lead characters as a means to explore loneliness, isolation, friendship and salvation in the ghostly setting of contemporary Dublin. “The city holds some very dark feelings for me,” he admits to Kim Porcelli.
Director PADDY BREATHNACH, producer ROB WALPOLE and writer CONOR McPHERSON take time out from polishing their latest haul of gongs to talk CATHY DILLON through the making of I Went Down.
Though much of the comedy is hit-and-miss, Michael Caine’s supreme turn as a hopeless, hack thespian makes this enjoyable viewing all on its own, while Moran is ever reliable as our maudlin hero, even beneath the silliest of wigs.
Once a rock’n’roll performer in his youth, CONOR McPHERSON has now graduated into one of Ireland’s brightest theatrical and literary talents. Still only in his mid-20s, he’s already written the screenplay of the acclaimed Irish thriller I Went Down, as well as several acclaimed plays, This Limetree Bower and his latest effort The Weir. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about the mixed reception he’s received from Irish theatre critics, and the influence of rock music on his work.
With a hit Colin Farrell movie to his name, Martin McDonagh mulls over his early rejections at the hand of the Abbey, his "rivalry" with Conor McPherson and his run-in with Sean Connery.
He has been hailed as a wunderkind of Irish theatre. Now, with his second feature film, The Actors, Conor McPherson brings his theatrical experience to bear on celluloid – with considerable success.
Joe Jackson talks to Dawn Bradfield, star of Poor Beast In The Rain, the latest instalment in playwright Billy Roche’s widely acclaimed Wexford trilogy.
Peter Murphy meets The Plague Monkeys, who have just released their second album, The Sunburn Index. Under discussion: Soundscapes, European film-makers and Alanis Morissette s lyrics.
The godfather of the modern Irish gothic tradition, Patrick McCabe, has released what critics are hailing as his darkest, and arguably finest, novel yet, Winterwood.
At the end of the last decade, Philip King was best known as a founder member of Scullion and writer of the music to the Frank O’Connor translation of the Irish lyric ‘I Am Stretched On Your Grave’. However, since setting up Hummingbird Productions with his partners Nuala O’Connor and Kieran Corrigan in 1987, he has established himself as one of the country’s leading makers of films about Irish music and culture, including acclaimed series such as Bringing It All Back Home, A River Of Sound, and Sult. Here he talks to Peter Murphy about the current Irish climate for independent film-makers, his stop-start relationship with RTE, and post-Riverdance Irishry. Pics: Cathal Dawson
BECKETT ON FILM is one of the most ambitious cinematic projects ever. Nineteen of Samuel Beckett's plays have been made into movies, directed by and starring numerous A-list figures. To mark the occasion, JOE JACKSON talks to Bono, John Hurt and Enda Hughes about one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists
What would you do if the Devil turned up on your doorstep to play cards for your soul? Joe Jackson reviews Conor McPherson's new play THE SEAFARER as it comes to the Dublin stage.
Stephen Robinson meets Paths To Freedom creators Ian Fitzgibbon and Michael McElhatton to discuss their latest collaboration Fergus' Wedding, a comedy that looks at Dublin's growing swingers scene
