Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman confirms the suspicion that he might just be the finest British playwright to emerge in a generation. In his follow up to his wildly successful Jerusalem Butterworth does not take the easy path by churning out more the same. Instead he pens a gripping masterpiece about love, loss and family set against the background of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Only a writer of Butterworth's calibre could successfully intertwine the complexity of Irish history within a study of rural Catholic family life during the Troubles in the early eighties. Admittedly it also helps having Sam Mendes along as director, who expertly maintains a breathless pace throughout despite its near three hour running time and an exceptional cast led by a standout performance by Laura Donnelly, a baby, a couple of rabbits and an excellent large supporting cast.
Only a writer of Butterworth's calibre could successfully intertwine the complexity of Irish history within a study of rural Catholic family life during the Troubles in the early eighties. Admittedly it also helps having Sam Mendes along as director, who expertly maintains a breathless pace throughout despite its near three hour running time and an exceptional cast led by a standout performance by Laura Donnelly, a baby, a couple of rabbits and an excellent large supporting cast.
In the Ferryman we follow the Carney family as they bring in the annual harvest in rural Armagh. However the perfect idyllicism portrayed in the early scenes is swiftly punctured by the ever present Troubles which simmer slowly in the background, until finally boiling over, uncontrollable into real life. Their impact will affect the family forever and in unsuspecting ways.
The brilliance in this play is its ability to rapidly switch tone. One minute you are laughing away, the next you are covering your face in shock as the real world fights its way into the Carney's idyllic rural lives. It's rare to go to the theatre and hear so many audible gasps, but this was entirely involuntary as the audience watched as yet another character drops a shocking revelation or an unexpected confrontation take place. All of which is underpinned by dialogue that is so good that even the live goose, which makes a cameo in the first half, could have read the lines and won an award.
So many themes are covered here, it would be impossible to do the sheer breadth of them all justice. From families to unrequited love, from friendship and compassion to terrorism The Ferryman is without doubt the best play of the year and one that you will be thinking about long after you have left the Carney family's dinner table behind.
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