The Weir And The Wonderful

There are moments, says Sean McGinley, when it all just comes together for an actor, when a performance gels perfectly on stage. Naturally, such instances are few and far between – at most you can hope for a dozen in your career.

Unless, of course, you’re appearing in a stone-cold classic such as Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Then – just maybe – you can look forward to such moments every night.
“Well, one of the great things about being an actor in Ireland right now is that we are blessed because we have much more world class writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, for whatever reasons” says McGinley, who appears in The Gate’s new production of the play, which is directed by Garry Hynes. “So the work is always there, the material is always there, there is always some playwright beavering away, whether it is Tom Murphy or Frank McGuinness or the new breed, including Enda Walsh, Mark Rowe or Conor McPherson.”
With talent like that, it’s little wonder that so many actors find the lure of the stage irresistible.
“Those of us who do theatre do it because we have no choice. There is a play that speaks to you in some way.”
He relishes preparing for a role in particular.
“That’s the part I love – where you get a bunch of people in a room and you start from scratch and grow together over a period of weeks and it becomes an instant family in a way.”
Set in present day rural Ireland in a small bar The Weir references the storytelling tradition of the Seanachai as Valerie, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, is held spellbound by the tales of local bachelors. The play also stars Denis Conway, David Ganly, and Mark Lambert.
“What gets me is the quality of McPherson’s writing,” McGinley enthuses. “The more you read it, the more it gives you. It’s almost like a physical thing. And the writing is so integrated. He’s set it in north Leitrim, it’s so specific and feels so right, and once you find the rhythm of it, it’s so rewarding. Every time I read it, every time we do a run through in the rehearsal room, some new thing hits me.”
In that sense McPherson’s text is like poetry – the actors, when they get it right, are like great musicians playing in perfect harmony.
“That is what I feel, very much so,” Sean nods. “It’s like an actor does a certain line a certain way and you respond differently because you’re thinking, ‘God I never thought of it like that.’ Moments like that are the thing that get you out of bed in the morning. But there really were only about half a dozen nights in my life where everything gelled like that for an entire performance. It’s like music, where everyone is perfectly tuned into each other and knows where everyone is going.”

The Weir opens at the Gate Theatre June 10