The play is based on events that took
place between 1940 and 1944
Cast
(in order of appearance)
| Ian |
RICKY WAUGH* |
| John |
GREGG WEINER* |
| Neasa |
DEBORAH L. SHERMAN |
| Laurence |
JOHN BIXLER* |
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
Place: Dublin
Time: The Present
Note about the Playwright
At 29, Conor McPherson, one of Ireland's most celebrated living playwrights, was convinced he was going to die. He had already written seven successful plays ~ but he had drunk too much, too often, and his luck had finally run out. In February 2001, he felt a sharp pain in his side, collapsed and was taken to an intensive care unit in a London Hospital. He was unconscious for three weeks, suffering from pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that is potentially fatal. "I thought it was over," he said.
Mr. McPherson survived, but his brush with death forced him to change. He describes his life back then as "a crazy nightmare" that he couldn't control. "There were lots of terrible moments," he said. "I let people down. I did stupid things. I got self-destructive. Take from that what you will."
After his recovery, he visited a series of therapists, joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober ever since. "Getting sick was a terrible thing, but in a funny way it had to happen," he said, sipping ginger ale in a hotel restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. "It set me free and gave me a second chance."
Shining City was the first play he wrote in sobriety.
~ Jason Zinoman, New York Times
May 14, 2006
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