The Ferryman

This is one of the best plays ever. Butterworth's play, JERUSALEM, was one that was on my list of best plays ever. Now we have THE FERRYMAN.It is an Irish family set during the time of the Northern Ireland hunger strikers-the ones that Margaret Thatcher let die. It is a sophisticated theatrical piece that is part Stage Irish Minstrel show with clogs and banshees and a family saga set around a Harvest Feast. There are real babies and dead Geese, bodies in bogs and unconsummated love affairs.The play is so skillful that even when reading it you want to hold up your hand and say, "Stop!" but the characters go on with their lives. And we do not have any idea of what will happen next. Neither do they.

My daughter and I are theater geeks. I saw Ferryman on Broadway last month and recognized it as an extraordinary show, probably the finest production in years. After seeing the show, I knew it required a serious reading of it. So I ordered copies of Ferryman for myself and my daughter. Read it and recognized it as a true masterpiece. And since the playwright is Irish, the cast huge (over 20 actors which includes an infant), the dialogue comes fast and furious, it requires serious work for the theater goers. Like Shakespeare, the audience can’t help but either miss some of the dialogue or feel the need to savor the magical language a second or third, or even fourth time. After reading Ferryman, I plan on seeing the play again.

I had the pleasure of reading this while on vacation this summer and was pleasantly surprised by its less-than-sympathetic take on the IRA and its shocking ending. The build to the denouement is artfully done (in fact, I had to go back and re-read it to truly admire the brilliance of its slow-simmer to explosiveness). I sincerely hope the production comes out to LA - I'm sure Sam Mendes did a stunning job of directing this play and I'd love to see it! Highly recommended!!! (As is his prior play, "Jerusalem" which won Mark Rylance the Tony for Best Actor - not as enjoyable, but deeply memorable)

An excellent synthesis of the aesthetic of The Troubles, but from an English sympathizer. The cultural references are great, and the play highlights England's role in creating terrorism, symbolically casting England as a single character too stupid to know what he's killing.

The power. The power of this work.I hadn’t read any Irish Theatre in years but this brought it all back. The incredible tension that leaps off the page as the family dynamic plays out against the background of the Troubles and the Evil and Pain they produced on all sides.The innocence of the children and the damaged souls of all the teens and adults are all displayed in the subtlest of words and actions. So little happens as a family disintegrates before our eyes. It rips you up before you realize it. Amazing!

Credit The Atlantic's reviewer with the above. Amazon 's algorithms steered here after thoroughly enjoying Kevin Barry's "Last Boat to Tangier" --at first unexpected, but proved penetrating and instructive. Must also find way to see it on the stage. Author's pace and writing always compelling. Just could not put it down and won't soon forget it. Every character revealed in full and truly the whole exceeds the extraordinary sum of these great parts.

See the play, then read it. The voices, the humor, the anguish will still be in your head. One of the best plays in a long time.

This is an amazing play that you should see if you get a chance; the large number of speaking roles and the ages of the characters most likely mean that it will not play outside London, New York, or other major metropolitan city. But it's a fantastic play and, while it reads well, it's far more compelling when performed by top-notch actors.

I got through reading this playscript only by viewing it as a comedy. Then all the antics become funny. The ending where suddenly the Englishman brings the dead body of the son of the house onto the stage was hilarious. I asked a reputable friend and he said an Irish actor friend of his had called it 'a typical Oirish play' - ie a slew of cliches. Read Sean O'Casey if you want proper Irish drama - this is appalling

Bought the book after seeing the play. Both are excellent. Best play I have seen for a long time. There is humour, excitement, sadness, shocks a plenty and heart break.I wish I had seen Jez's other plays.

Im from Nothern Ireland so it was easy for me to read and understand the slang, of which there is alot of and the back story.Very quirky, and an unusual take on the troubles, which i very much liked. Now to get tickets for the show...

Wonderful play

Saw the play; reading the script brought back memories of a splendid evening entertainment