COLUMBIA, Ky. – Life in rural Ireland as depicted by one of the greatest living playwrights will be on the stage in Lindsey Wilson College’s first play of the spring.
The Lindsey Wilson Department of Theatre will present Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s award-winning The Weir on April 2-4 and April 6 in the college’s V.P. Henry Auditorium.
The Weir involves five characters having a conversation in a pub in rural western Ireland. The weir refers to a hydroelectric dam that was built on a local waterway set near where the play takes place.
“The play features four male and a female character who come into the local pub,” said Lindsey Wilson theatre professor Robert Brock, who is directing the play. “They sit around and talk about everyday life, and they tell ghost stories. Of course, there’s a lot more to the plot than that, but I think audiences will find the play very engaging and interesting because the stories told by the characters are pretty cool. And the audience is also drawn into the characters’ lives as they talk and tell their stories.”
Many critics consider The Weir one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play of 1997-98 and earned McPherson the coveted Critics’ Circle Award as the most promising playwright of 1998. McPherson’s work has been compared to work by theater legends Eugene O’Neill, Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller.
The Weir will be the first play by a contemporary Irish author produced at Lindsey Wilson. In addition to the play’s artistic beauty, another reason Brock said he chose to produce the play was to prepare Lindsey Wilson students for an upcoming academic adventure.
In spring 2026, the college’s theatre and English departments will take students on a study-abroad trip to Ireland to learn about the Irish Renaissance, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“Places like the one where The Weir is set played a big part in the Irish Renaissance, so this play will help introduce our students to that environment and landscape,” said Brock. “But it’s also just a great story that is perfect for the stage. Audiences will enjoy it because even though the story is set on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, so much of what the characters discuss, as well as their lives, are things that people in this region will be able to relate to.”
The Lindsey Wilson College Theatre Department will present Conor McPherson’s The Weir at 7 p.m. CT on April 2-4 and at 2 p.m. April 6 in the college’s V.P. Henry Auditorium, 210 Lindsey Wilson St. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to lindsey.edu/theatre or contact theatre professor Robert Brock at brockr@lindsey.edu.
CAST
* Jim – Leeshawn Johnson ’26, theatre major from Louisville, Kentucky;
* Brendon – Zachariah Lawson ’26, English and Christian Ministries double major from Williamsburg, Kentucky;
* Valerie – Kassidy Phelps, theatre graduate assistant from Burkesville, Kentucky;
* Finbar – Gage Carnes ’26, theatre and business administration major from Jamestown, Kentucky;
* Jack – Brandon Grider ’28, theatre and arts administration double major from Columbia;
and the stage manager is Shiane Lussier ’26, theatre and arts administration double major from Bremen, Kentucky.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)