Get tickets now to "the most critically acclaimed play of the season" (Rolling Stone). The Chicago Tribune calls THE FERRYMAN "a sprawling, Shakespearean masterpiece and the best new play of the year." Written by Jez Butterworth and directed Sam Mendes, this "new, instant and monumental classic" (HuffPost) has been ranked on more "Top 10" lists than any other show. New York Times critic Ben Brantley says, "It's the Broadway production of the year."
It's 1981 in Northern Ireland, and the Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. The Hollywood Reporter says, "This crackling thriller positively thrums with life and love. It will leave you breathless." And The New Yorker raves, "As you sit in the audience, you know you are watching theatre history happen." Don't miss THE FERRYMAN - "the must-see drama of the year" (Time Out).
Sam Mendes directs, with scenic & costume design by Rob Howell, lighting design by Peter Mumford, sound design & original music by Nick Powell, and choreography by Scarlett Mackmin.
The performances are too good, right across the board, to single out all that merit recognition. But I particularly loved watching Flanagan emerge periodically from waking slumber, her eyes burning with feverish intensity. Another distinguished Irish stage veteran, Molloy, is so caustic as Aunt Pat that her words sting, but there's fathomless sadness beneath her bitter humor. O'Reilly cuts through Mary's fragile presence with a gorgeous speech that spills out of her toward the end, full of conflicting impulses of hurt and compassion. And Edwards' Tom Kettle is a figure of wrenching innocence and haunting pathos.
The devil of it all is that is that, both despite and because of its flagrant use of formula, The Ferryman hooks us through the gills and pulls us along. After all, are we not entertained? There's a live goose, for God's sake. In the wake of the play's frantic, lurid, pull-out-all-the-stops-and-knock-down-all-the-pins conclusion (which makes the whole play feel like the prequel to an as-yet-unwritten bloodbath blockbuster called The Wrath of Quinn), the audience rocketed to its feet - and I got the reaction. Even though, when I stopped to think about it, at least three different elements of the story's final catastrophic 60 seconds left me wondering, 'Wait, but why?' In a sense, set and costume designer Rob Howell's rendering of the Carneys' farmhouse, with its barrage of meticulous detail and its absurdly outsize proportions, is the perfect metaphor for the play itself: It's a head-trippy presentation of rich, authentic-seeming texture inside a romanticized, larger-than-life box - a gourmet meal by a very clever chef that somehow gives us the same uneasy satisfaction as Lucky Charms. 'That just... almost looked right,' said the friend who saw it with me, whose family lives in Donegal, 'And... almost felt right. But...'
2017 | West End |
World Premiere at Royal Court Theatre West End |
2017 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
2018 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Sam Mendes |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Tom Glynn-Carney |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | Nick Powell |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Paddy Considine |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | The Ferryman |
2019 | New York Drama Critics Circle Awards | Best Play | Jez Butterworth |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Rob Howell |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Sam Mendes |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Fionnula Flanagan |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | The Ferryman |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design | Rob Howell |
2019 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Tom Glynn-Carney |
2019 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Paddy Considine |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Rob Howell |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Sam Mendes |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Peter Mumford |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Paddy Considine |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Fionnula Flanagan |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Laura Donnelly |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jez Butterworth |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Rob Howell |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Nick Powell |
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