The Pen of Conor McPherson
In an interview with Theatre Communications Group writer Cassandra Csencsitz, Conor McPherson once made this observation about his writing, "It's a messy journey. You can't be too scientific." With a stellar
career at only 36 years old, however, one wonders if there isn't some kind of method behind
McPherson's success after all.
McPherson has amassed a body of work in stage and
film which chronicles many aspects of the human experience. Alcoholism, guilt, death, family; these are all
running themes in McPherson's writing. His craft was honed
at University College Dublin, and later, in the theatre
company he helped found in 1992, Fly By Night. He wrote, directed, and
produced his work in these venues and soon saw productions of his
plays Rum & Vodka and The Good Thief at the City Arts Centre in
Dublin. Thief went on to win the Stewart Parker Award in 1994, and made
its American debut Off Broadway in 2001.
McPherson's career took off with the opening of The Weir,
which premiered in London in 1997 and opened on Broadway in 1999.
He soon branched out into the film industry, and for his 1997
hit I Went Down, was awarded Best Screenplay and Best New Director at the
San Sebastian Film Festival.
Though his film career was taking off, McPherson kept close
to his theatre ties and found yet another hit in 1999 with Dublin
Carol. His dependence on alcohol, however, began to take a dramatic
turn for the worse. In 2001, on the same evening his new play Port
Authority opened in the West End, McPherson was rushed to the hospital
with a potentially fatal case of pancreatitis. This brush with
death opened McPherson's eyes to his problems, and he made many new
changes in his life, most notably getting sober.
His work has continued to thrive since that night, happily,
and Shining City is one example. He wrote and directed the 2003
film The Actors, starring Michael Caine and Dylan Moran. His play
The Seafarer, about two brothers (one sober, one alcoholic) who
spend a night with the Devil, opened at the National Theatre in 2006, then made
its hit Broadway debut at the Booth Theatre in 2007.
McPherson has had much success, but it has been marked with
hardship. In the same interview with Csencsitz, McPherson comments,
"All my plays are a picture of me trying to find what's the real energy or
force in my life. You dig at it until you reach some point where you make
peace with yourself." Perseverance or method, Conor McPherson's talent continues
to speak the truth about what it means to be human.
— Brett Marks