By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Friday 11 April, opens 24 April runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Could unknowingly drinking water from a local well make the recipient fall in love with the 1st person they see afterwards?
- Read on for reasons including how this gives Punch a run for its money as best new play of the year so far
You join us in the west of Ireland in the 80s and brother and sister Stephen and Billie are mucking along in their decaying farmhouse, doing just fine.
Until the arrival of an ex-clergymen uncle with designs on their home, a sister-in-law with an eye on that well water and a brother cheating on her with a local girl half his age.
Anyone who has seen author Conor McPherson’s (his Girl From The North Country, is returning to the Old Vic) recent Uncle Vanya will have a sense of the ground travelled here – a decaying home under threat from outsiders, people in love with the wrong people, thwarted dreams and the power of 1’s own surroundings to offer escape.
But McPherson’s The Brightening Air, the title is from W.B. Yeats’ The Song Of Wandering Aengus, surpasses all these promising influences and left us feeling its author could lay claim to be the Irish Chekhov – even without the imbibing of any magical well water (probably).
The IT Crowd‘s Chris O’Dowd stars opposite Aisling Kearns (Juno And The Paycock, Gielgud Theatre) but this is an ensemble piece and, while he’s funny, it’s the strength of those around him and the grittiness of this story combined with some more fantastical elements that sees this original play soar to 5* territory.
Rosie Sheehy plays sister Billie and was this year nominated for a Best Actress Olivier Award for Machinal at this very venue and the outspoken woman, knocked down 3 times near her home, cared for by her devoted brother, given life by Brian Gleeson, is the very heart and soul of this production.
Hannah Morrish also tugged at our heartstrings as the well water-wielding woman willing to do anything to win back her unfaithful idiot husband played by O’Dowd.
Of course there’s a storm as the drama heightens, intentions are revealed and the unexpected potency, or not, of the well water is unearthed.
McPherson next turns his hand to a stage adaptation of beloved film The Hunger Games which premieres at a new theatre in London this autumn.
That couldn’t be further from The Brightening Air which is lyrical, romantic, laugh-out-loud funny and giving Punch up the road at the Young Vic a run for its money as best new play of the year so far.
- Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Old Vic Tickets
- Have you seen a Old Vic show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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The Brightening Air is certainly a refreshing piece of ensemble theatre and one which will pull on your emotions well after the curtain has come down on the eight actors all of whom do a sterling job at maintaining pace, rhythm and dark humour alongside a good dose of realism and hard hitting 80’s Irish life. Two points to note; the range of broad southern Irish accents can sometimes be a challenge to keep up with and any coughing and sneezing from the audience can spoil the thread of a whole conversation such is the need to focus on what’s being said. Secondly the play is probably around 10/15 minutes longer than it needs to be and doesn’t really grip the audience until the final third of Act One once all the characters are established. It meanders into the hearts and minds of the audience rather than grabbing by the throat (although there is some literal throat grabbing in Act two).
Overall a must see for a play which has a relatively short West End run but you feel it will be rolled out across regional theatres in years to come.
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