The Brightening Air

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. Conor McPherson's new play The Brightening Air, winner of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, is an entrancing tale of fate, family and unseen forces in 1980s Ireland. It is premiered at the Old Vic, London, in 2025.