The Brightening Air
Old Vic Theatre
- Opens: Tuesday, 15 April 2025 -
Booking until: Friday, 13 June 2025
The Brightening Air description
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 (Brian Gleeson) and Billie (Rosie Sheehy), 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 (Seán McGinley) with an unscrupulous plan, a sister-in-law (Hannah Morrish) seeking a miracle, and a prodigal brother hell-bent on trouble (Chris O’Dowd).
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.
Winner of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
Playing at Old Vic Theatre
Age restrictions
Ages 14+.