Cillian Murphy will star in a new production of Max Porter's Grief is the Thing with Feathers in Ireland, adapted and directed by Tony winner Enda Walsh (Once, Lazarus).
The production will begin performances March 16, 2018, at Galway's Black Box Theatre before making its official world premiere March 20. Performances will continue through March 24. A run in Dublin at the O'Reilly Theatre is scheduled for March 28–April 5. The play will subsequently tour in 2019.
Grief is the Thing with Feathers reunites Irish writer/director Walsh with actor Murphy following the success of their past collaborations: Disco Pigs, Ballyturk, and Misterman. Murphy's film performances include roles in the thrillers Inception, Batman Begins, and Red Eye.
The play follows a widower and his two young boys, who face the sadness of their mother’s sudden death. Through their grief they are visited by Crow—an antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter—who threatens to stay until they no longer need him.
Complicité and Wayward Productions produce in association with Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival. Co-producers are Barbican, Cork Opera House, Edinburgh International Festival, Oxford Playhouse, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and Warwick Arts Centre.
Murphy said in a statement, “Couldn’t be any more excited about the prospect of making this piece of work…. Grief is the Thing with Feathers truly broke my heart when I first read it and it will be a privilege to bring it to life on stage in Ireland. Complicité’s work on stage has inspired me for many years, and it is always a joy to get in a room with my most trusted collaborator and friend Enda Walsh.”
