Conor McPherson says his new family drama is absolutely drenched in folklore and is about the baffling pleasure of being alive. The phrase The Brightening Air encapsulates that moment where dreams meet reality and our most important illusions fade away.
The play, lyrical, dark and comic, is both Roman Catholic and Celtic and it explores the tension between past and present. A dysfunctional Irish family’s longs for a home. The action is set in County Sligo in North-West Ireland in the 1980s. The landscape is desolate
Stephen (Brian Gleeson) and his autistic sister Billie (Rosie Sheehy) live together in their family’s old, decaying farmhouse. Their lives are interrupted by the arrival of their long-absent philandering elder brother Dermot (Chris O’Dowd) who has always fancied women much younger than himself. His wife Lyda (Hannah Morrish) needs a miracle to renew their marriage. She hopes to get it with the aid of water from an enchanted well.
The family’s blind uncle, an ex-clergyman (Sean McGinley), also turns up. He thinks he is God and has founded a new religion. He wants to turn the house into a holy shrine and a place for pilgrims to visit.
McPherson’s production has a Chekhovian feel and is well acted by a fine Irish ensemble who manage the explosive rows with exceptional force. The weakness of the play is that it is not always clear what is going on. The Irish accents will make it even more difficult for some audiences.
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