Amy Larson
Staff Writer
Imagine walking into a building of complete strangers. No one recognizes you, and no faces look familiar either. But, by the time you leave that same building, you have made friends that you will not forget as long as you live. That is precisely what happens in “The Weir,” a production that Pepperdine students will be performing this week.
Written by Conor McPherson, a leading contemporary playwright, “The Weir” brings together people whose paths might not have otherwise collided had it not been for a pub in a remote area of Ireland.
Throughout the play, the strangers share stories of their pasts, ranging from frightening to hilarious to tear jerking. These stories allow the audience to know the characters; the audience sees that the people in the pub are happy, they are depressed, but most of all, they are together.
The play has gathered many fans in Europe, and now it is making waves in the United States as well. McPherson won the 1997 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright (for “The Weir”) as well as other awards from the London Critics Circle and the British Broadcasting Company.
“The Weir” is the current production of the University Theater Department, making Pepperdine the most recent addition to McPherson’s bandwagon. Though the production required the cast and crew to put in a tremendous amount of work and many hours of practice, the University chose this play for what director Danny Campbell said is good reason.
“It’s really funny, it’s heartfelt, and it’s even sad at times,” Campbell said. “When you see the intimate setting, you want to be a part of the play. You’ll wish you were sitting in the scene with the actors. It just creates a type of warm feeling; the feelings you get seeing the things that happen among friends.
Campbell isn’t the only one who is excited about this production. The students involved in it have put in countless hourson and off the stage.
Since the play is set in Ireland, the students had to learn to speak as the Irish do. This task involved weeks of practice, including a dialect coach. Additionally, to be true to the script, certain actors were made to learn different dialects since their characters were from different parts of Ireland, adding to both the enjoyment and workload.
“In order to tell the story effectively it was a necessity,” said junior Tanner Redman, who plays the part of Jim. “We have to work really hard to make sure the audience understands the language.”
Besides speaking, those who comprise the play’s cast had a lot of work to do on their own. To make the characters realistic, the cast spent hours exploring Irish society through various research methods.
“It was important to research the place and location where the play is taking place,” Campbell said. “They need to make it look real; to know and act the situation that they’re in. The actors really immersed themselves in Irish culture.”
Senior Jason Murphy, who takes on the role of Jack in the play, said all the work was worth it to make the show a high-quality performance, and to unify the cast.
“This show is an intense play that needs as much work as you can possibly put into it,” Murphy said. “I try to invest everything I have into this show. It can be stressful, but the rehearsal process has been great for bringing the cast together. Since there is such a small cast, we spend most of our time together every night.”
This production is a step in a different direction for the Fine Arts Division at Pepperdine. This play is shown specifically in the contrast beween Pepperdine’s dry-campus policy and the setting of this production: a pub.
“This is something new for Pepperdine,” Murphy said. “With a pub comes drinking, something that Pepperdine does not condone. It’s a bold step for the administration allowing this to happen. It shows their confidence in the theater department and its students.”
Whether audience members attend “The Weir” to see if students actually do drink on campus (“It’s cream soda and root beer,” Murphy said), to decipher the well-practiced dialects, or to meet five new people in an Irish pub, the bottom line, Campbell said, is to attend.
“Something different happens in the pub on this night,” Campbell said. “We were drawn to this play because it is a play about people telling stories. It’s about a desire and need to be together with other people and share. We all have that desire. It’s the same thing that happens in hallways and dorm rooms.
“It fulfills one of our most basic needs; people need to share a part of their lives,” he added.
“The Weir” will be performed tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Helen E. Lindhurst Theater. A second, matinee performance will be Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for the public, $6 for students and $12 for faculty and staff.
01-27-2005
