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

by EamonnJordan (Author), PatrickLonergan (Series Editor), KevinJ.WetmoreJr. (Series Editor), Eamonn Jordan (Author), Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. (Series Editor), Patrick Lonergan (Series Editor), Eamonn Jordan (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  2019

  $150.87

  Since 1990 Conor McPherson has produced an outstanding body of work in theatre that is regarded by many as generation leading, with works like St. Nicholas, The Seafarer and The Weir 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 screenplay for I Went Down. This Critical Companion offers a vibrant, detailed and engaging critical analysis of the plays and films of Conor McPherson. Adapting Paul's Dolan's reflections on `conspicuous altruism', this study employs various perspectives on communitas, ritual, violence, comedy, class, storytelling, agency and the supernatural in order to account for the extraordinary range of acclaimed theatres which have premiered McPherson's work in the UK and Ireland. It examines the reason for the fact that McPherson's new work almost invariably and inevitably transfers to other venues or receives almost immediate subsequent productions on Broadway, with renowned companies like Chicago's Steppenwolf, or around the world in translations or adaptations from companies so keen to respond to the latest McPherson play. This book, by a leading scholar on Irish theatre, addresses such impacts and acclaim, in part by articulating the visionary importance of the work, in finding ways of making connections between what seems like radically diverse projects, and in part in providing critical frameworks that give expression to nature, complexity, perspectives, and patterns of the plays and films and how they deliberately and significantly entice, shape and impact on an audience's desire and willingness to relate. The volume is supplemented by a number of contributed critical and performance perspectives, including an interview with Conor McPherson.