A new production of Conor McPherson’s award-winning drama The Weir is coming to the West End this autumn, led by Hollywood star Brendan Gleeson, making his West End debut.
Written and directed by Conor McPherson (Girl From the North Country), this new production of The Weir will play at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London from 12 September to 6 December 2025.
Ahead of London, the play will run at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin from 8 August to 6 September 2025.
Brendan Gleeson will star as local garage owner Jack in The Weir, with further casting for Brendan, Jim, Finbar and Valerie to be announced.
The Weir is produced in Dublin and London by Ireland’s Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions (Unicorn). Until recently Kate Horton ran stage and screen producer Fictionhouse with director Dominic Cooke.
Brendan Gleeson is an acclaimed film, TV and stage actor, and winner of a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, as well as Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.
Gleeson started his acting career on stage in Dublin, before performing at the RSC in Stratford upon Avon. He is a member of the Passion Machine Theatre company in Dublin, starring in plays including Roddy Doyle’s Brownbread, Wasters and Home; and writing three plays for the company. His other Dublin stage work includes Patrick Süskind’s The Double Bass, John B. Keane’s The Year of the Hiker, and The Walworth Farce directed by Seán Foley, at the Olympia Theatre where he will star in The Weir this August ahead of London.
Brendan Gleeson made his film acting debut in The Field in 1990, before his breakthrough role in Braveheart in 1995 opposite Mel Gibson. His other famous movies include In Bruges, and The Banshees of Inisherin, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
The Weir premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs at the Ambassadors Theatre in July 1997, directed by Ian Rickson, and won the 1999 Olivier Award for Best New Play. The production transferred to the West End’s Duke of York’s Theatre where it ran for two years, and went to Broadway in 1999. The play has subsequently been produced around the world, including a major London revival at the Donmar Warehouse in 2013 directed by Josie Rourke and starring Brian Cox, which transferred to the West End.
The Weir is set on a stormy night, as four local men gather in an isolated pub in rural Ireland. Their usual banter and everyday lives are disrupted by the arrival ofa woman called Valerie. The stories they weave to impress her are gripping, haunting and deeply unsettling. Little do they know that she has a profoundly personal story of her own, the sharing of which will leave them all shaken.
Actor Brendan Gleeson said in a statement: “Conor McPherson’s The Weir is one of the rarest plays around. The last time I appeared on stage was ten years ago, at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, where I started my career. I can’t wait to be back there, and then to play in the West End for the first time, at the beautiful Pinter Theatre – and to work with Conor on his profoundly moving, inspiring and ultimately hopeful play.”
Writer and director Conor McPherson said: “I can hardly believe it’s thirty years since I wrote The Weir – and about thirty years since I first met the wonderful Brendan Gleeson. It’s an absolute honour to bring this play to life again with one of the great titans of Irish acting. I’m hugely looking forward to directing my play for the very first time and sharing this production with audiences in Dublin and in London very soon.”
Producer Kate Horton said: “Along with a multitude of theatregoers, I was spellbound by Conor McPherson’s play The Weir when it first premiered at the Royal Court. I’ve since been granted three wishes; to have Conor agree to direct his own masterpiece for the first time, for the magnificent Brendan Gleeson to agree to lead the cast, and for the brilliant Anne Clarke to join me as co-producer. Together, they are titans of Irish and International theatre. The Weir is a beautiful play about human connection, the endurance of hope and the essential power of storytelling. It will be a joy to share this production with audiences.”
Producer Anne Clarke said: “In the way that people remember where they were when something significant happened – the moon landings, say, or who shot JR – I remember where I was when Kate Horton called, to tell me that she had been working with Conor McPherson on a new production of The Weir, and that Brendan Gleeson had agreed to play Jack. They were hoping the production would open in Dublin, ahead of a West End run. I had been lucky enough to work with Brendan before, when he played Dinny in The Walworth Farce at the 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin alongside his sons Brian and Domhnall, and the thought of working with him on Conor’s sublime play was a thrill. And I had known and admired Kate’s extraordinary body of work as a producer for many years, so the opportunity to work with her was another thrill. It promises to be hugely special, and I can’t wait for audiences in both Dublin and London to see it.”
Conor McPherson is having a busy year. His new play The Brightening Air starring Chris O’Dowd and Rosie Sheehy is currently playing at The Old Vic until 14 June 2025. The Brightening Air also stars Brian Gleeson (Peaky Blinders), son of Brendan Gleeson.
Other new Conor McPherson projects include the return of his hit musical Girl From the North Country, featuring the songs of Bob Dylan, which is back at The Old Vic this summer, from 24 June 2025.
McPherson has also written a new stage show based on the hit movie and book franchise The Hunger Games, with The Hunger Games on Stage opening at new East London venue Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre on 20 October 2025, directed by Matthew Warchus.
The Weir is running at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 12 September to 6 December 2025.
More about The Weir tickets at the Harold Pinter Theatre London
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