Chris O’Dowd, Conor McPherson and more on the dysfunctional family and supernatural elements in The Brightening Air

Happy St Patrick’s Day, folks!

Recently we paid a visit to the cast of the upcoming world premiere of The Brightening Air during rehearsals.

We sat down with director-playwright Conor McPherson, who returns to the Old Vic following the multi-award-winning Girl from the North Country in 2017, alongside Chris O’Dowd, Rosie Sheehy (who starred in Machinal at the venue last year), Brian Gleeson, Seán McGinley and Hannah Morrish, to find out more about the piece, which is set in rural Ireland in the 1980s.

The cast of The Brightening Air also includes Derbhle Crotty (Portia Coughlan), Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty (Juno and the Paycock) and Aisling Kearns (Juno and the Paycock), as well as understudies Ella Maria Carmen, Callum Cronin, Joseph McCarthy and Amy Vicary-Smith.

Set and costume design is by Rae Smith, lighting by Mark Henderson, sound by Gregory Clarke, movement and intimacy by Lucy Hind, casting by Serena Hill, voice by Charlie Hughes-D’Aeth, dialect by Danièle Lydon and fight direction by Kate Waters. The associate director is Anastasia Osei-Kuffour, associate set designer is Niall McKeever, the costume supervisor is Poppy Hall, the props supervisor is Fahmida Bakht and the music associate is Benjamin McQuigg.

The Brightening Air runs at the Old Vic from 10 April to 14 June 2025, with a press night set for 24 April.

Tickets are on sale below.