The Brightening Air
Old Vic Theatre, London
Conor McPherson returns to The Old Vic with his captivating new play.
Starting Wednesday 16 April 2025
How much of living is really just forgetting?
The family home is more than merely a building. It can be a destination of pilgrimage, an inherited investment, a repository of memory or even magic.
And, for brother and sister Stephen and Billie, home is all they have. Mucking along in their decaying farmhouse, they’re doing just fine.
That is, until the arrival of an ex-clergyman uncle with an unscrupulous plan, a sister-in-law seeking a miracle, and a prodigal brother hell-bent on trouble.
A world premiere from Olivier Award-winning writer and director Conor McPherson (The Weir, Girl from the North Country), The Brightening Air is an entrancing tale of fate, family and unseen forces in 1980s Ireland.