About the Play:

The Seafarer is a full-length drama by Conor McPherson. After losing yet another job, a hardened alcoholic returns to his Dublin home to care for his cantankerous elder brother, recently blinded in a drunken fall. As he tries to stay sober for Christmas, a visit from a mysterious stranger forces him to confront his troubled conscience. The Seafarer is a breathtaking supernatural play from the author of The Weir.

The Seafarer is a chilling play about the sea, Ireland, and the power of myth. It tells the story of Sharky, a down-on-his-luck (and his own fault for it) chauffeur and his recently blind brother, Richard, as they prepare for Christmas festivities in their small home in Baldoyle, Ireland. After a night of heavy drinking, Richard and his friend Ivan, are slowly bringing themselves back around to humanity as Sharky tries to get the house ready for the upcoming holiday. But it's not until Nicky Giblin, a friend of Richard's but not so much of Sharky's, drops by with a stranger bearing a sinister familiarity with Sharky, and a game of cards is suggested, does the real story unfold. As the game progresses, it's not his money that Sharky is playing with, but his very soul. This expert comedy and chilling ghost story ups the ante on anyone running from their past.

The Seafarer premiered in 2006 at the National's former Cottesloe Theatre (now The Dorfman Theatre) in London and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Play. It premiered on Broadway at the Booth Theatre in 2007, where it was nominated for four 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Play. The play has been performed in regional repertory, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 5 male

What people say:

"…dark and enthralling Christmas fable of despair and redemption… tingles with the author's acute and authentic sense of what is knowable and unknowable in life… The Seafarer may just be the pick-me-up play of the season." — The New York Times

"…a midnight-black comedy, one that wrenches laughter out of the despair of frustrated men whose lives have come to naught… No matter what you're expecting at the halfway mark, you won't feel cheated when the curtain falls." — Wall Street Journal

"A timeless classic." — Hollywood Reporter

"...a blistering emotional punch... The Seafarer first ambushes you and then haunts you for days afterwards." — Time Out (London)

"…sparkling and suspenseful... McPherson is a born yarn-spinner." — The Guardian

"McPherson's new play is one of his most succinct and startling, and the funniest to date... what he creates is apparently simple, but daring and memorable. He sends his characters off on benders, and they bump into the infinite." — The Observer

"Writing at its most riveting." — The Sunday Times

"...a realistic fantasy, a wide-awake nightmare. The writing is poetic, brutal, athletic, hilarious...." — Daily Mail

About the Playwright:

Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright and co-founder of the Fly by Night Theatre Company. He has won numerous awards, including a Laurence Olivier Award for The Weir and Tony Award nominations for Shining City and The Seafarer.