Learn more about Conor McPherson's career ahead of 'The Brightening Air' and 'The Hunger Games'

The celebrated playwright and director returns with two exciting and contrasting new projects: The Brightening Air at the Old Vic and The Hunger Games at Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre.

2025 is set to be a great year for Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson, with the premieres of The Brightening Air at the Old Vic and The Hunger Games at Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre – two very different and highly anticipated shows.

Hailed as one of the greatest playwrights of his generation, McPherson is an Olivier Award winner who has achieved international success. Most of his plays are set in Ireland and explore themes of family, faith, masculinity, addiction, regret, and death, often featuring supernatural elements. They’re not exactly cheerful but always beautifully written and thought provoking. Just don’t expect plots that are tied up with a neat bow!

Book The Brightening Air tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Check back for The Hunger Games tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Who is Conor McPherson?

McPherson was born in Dublin in 1971 and educated at University College Dublin, where he began his playwrighting career as a member of the university’s drama society. His work has been performed in his native Ireland, in the West End, on Broadway, and internationally. He has named James Joyce and Stanley Kubrick as two of his “heroes”.

What are Conor McPherson’s most important works?

McPherson’s first play Rum and Vodka was staged in 1992 when he was 21, and he has had over 15 plays and adaptations staged to date. Here is a selection of some of his most significant plays:

The Lime Tree Bower (1995)

This early play, a coming-of-age story about three young men in small-town Ireland, was first performed at the Crypt Arts Centre in Dublin, directed by McPherson himself. The following year, it transferred to London’s Bush Theatre and in 1999 was performed Off Broadway. It was revived in London at Theatre 503 and the Young Vic in 2005.

The Weir (1997)

The Weir, which opened at the Royal Court and transferred to the West End and Broadway, was the play that marked McPherson’s mainstream breakthrough and has been hailed as a modern classic. Set in a pub in rural Ireland, a small group of locals tell stories with ghostly elements. McPherson won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, the Evening Standard Award, and Critics’ Circle Award. When Josie Rourke’s revival transferred to the West End in 2016, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer observed that “The essence of great theatre is storytelling, and Conor McPherson's quietly haunting and haunted 1997 masterpiece distils it to its purest form”.

Dublin Carol (2000)

Set in a Dublin funeral home on Christmas Eve, Dublin Carol was first staged at the Royal Court starring Brian Cox. It then made its Off-Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2003.

Shining City (2004)

This play about a widower who sees the ghost of his late wife was first performed at the Royal Court and transferred to Broadway in 2006 (where it was nominated for the Tony Award for Best New Play). It was most recently revived at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2021 starring Brendan Coyle (an original cast member and Olivier winner for The Weir).

The Seafarer (2006)

Like Dublin Carol, The Seafarer also takes place on a rather dismal Christmas Eve. The original production at the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre was directed by McPherson himself and Ron Cook and Conleth Hill led the cast (when the play went to Broadway, Ciarán Hinds succeeded Cook). Critics noted its parallels with Harold Pinter's The Homecoming.

The Night Alive (2013)

McPherson also directed this play about Tommy, a middle-aged loner living in his uncle’s house. The play premiered at the Donmar Warehouse (and earned an Olivier nomination for Best New Play) starring Hinds, who reprised his role in New York.

Girl from the North Country (2017)

McPherson wrote the book for – and directed – this jukebox musical (or it might be more accurate to say play with music?) featuring the back catalogue of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Set in Minnesota during the Great Depression, the show takes place in a down-at-heel boarding house where the proprietors and residents are on the brink of eviction and homelessness. In a 5-star review, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer observed that “Conor McPherson, who has written it and also lovingly directed it, provides an intricate and precise yet impressionistic account of these lives unfolding, with big and small dramas playing out there.” The original Old Vic production transferred to the West End and Broadway.

Uncle Vanya (2020)

McPherson’s most recent theatrical offering was an adaptation of the Chekhov classic directed by Ian Rickson (who also directed the premieres of The Weir and Dublin Carol). Toby Jones played the title role and Richard Armitage was Astrov. Chekhov and McPherson have much in common thematically and LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer called the production “a beautifully nuanced account of the play that fully embraces its tender, funny, sad and crushingly comic notes in turn.”

What film and television work has Conor McPherson done?

McPherson’s films include I Went Down, Endgame, The Actors, The Eclipse, and children’s fantasy Artemis Fowl. For television, he wrote the three-part crime drama Paula, starring Denise Gough.

What awards has Conor McPherson won?

The Weir won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999, as well as the Evening Standard Award, Critics’ Circle Award, and George Devine Award. He was also nominated for Best New Play for The Seafarer and The Night Alive, and for Best New Musical for Girl from the North Country.

McPherson received Tony nominations for Best Play for Shining City, The Seafarer, and for Best Book of a Musical for Girl from the North Country. He was also nominated for Best Direction of a Play for The Seafarer and for Best Direction of a Musical for Girl from the North Country.

What are Conor McPherson’s current projects?

There are two exciting and highly contrasting plays from McPherson premiering in 2025. One is a family drama, ostensibly in the vein for which he known, and the second is an adaptation of a major franchise.

The Brightening Air

McPherson’s first offering of 2025 (which he also directs) is set in rural Ireland in the 1980s and explores many of his favourite themes, including the meaning of home, dysfunctional families, and the effects of isolation. Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) stars as a prodigal brother who reunites with his siblings, who are played by Brian Gleeson (Bad Sisters) and Rosie Sheehy (currently Olivier-nominated for Machinal).

Book The Brightening Air tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

The Hunger Games

This epic story and production marks a change of style for McPherson, who’s best known for the intimacy of his storytelling. The stage adaptation of The Hunger Games film franchise (based on the novels by Suzanne Collins) promises to be a huge affair in the brand-new Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre. With its themes of bravery, survival, and the unbreakable human spirit and a larger-than-life production by Matthew Dunster, it’s set to be one of the most exciting theatrical events of the year.

Check back for The Hunger Games tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.