The Seafarer

Irish author Conor McPherson’s play The Seafarer (2006) is classified as a black comedy with magical realism elements. Set on Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, a coastal town near Dublin, the play centers on James “Sharky” Harkin, a drunk who has returned to town and moved in with his blind, elderly brother Richard. The play follows Sharky’s attempts to stay sober during the Christmas season, as well as his troubled relationship with his brother and his own hidden demons and troubled conscience. The play, taking its title from the old Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name, explores themes of regret, family, substance abuse, and ghosts both real and supernatural. Making its 2006 debut in London’s Royal National Theater, it received a 2007 Olivier Award nomination for Best Play. It spent a year on Broadway where received Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Director, and two featured actors , including a win for Jim Norton. It went on to stage productions in Dublin, California, Chicago, Budapest, Houston, Seattle, Perth, and Scotland. It is considered one of the most critically acclaimed and enduring modern Irish plays.

When The Seafarer begins, James “Sharky” Harkin has just lost his job working as a chauffeur for a wealthy real estate developer and his wife in Lahinch, County Clare, largely due to his alcoholism and irregular behavior. With few options, Sharky returns to Dublin to move in with his brother, Richard—ostensibly, to look after the blind and aging Richard, though in reality, Sharky is looking for a place, any place to live. The relationship between the brothers has always been fraught, and from the start, there is tension between them. Richard makes clear that he is not happy to have Sharky back in his house and constantly snipes at his brother about his poor life choices. He also makes constant demands of his younger brother, treating him more like a servant than a roommate. The tension between them boils over at one of Richard’s regular games of poker, when he invites Nicky Giblin, an old rival of Sharky’s, to come over to the house for a game. The four of them, including their old friend Ivan, are planning a standard game, but Nicky’s arrival throws a wrench into the works when he does not arrive alone.

The uninvited guest, the mysterious Mr. Lockhart, dresses well and speaks in a cultured manner. During the game, Lockhart pulls Sharky aside, reminding him that they had met previously, twenty-five years ago when they were both sent to jail in the Bridewell Garda Barracks after Sharky was arrested for killing Lawrence Joyce, a homeless man. While sharing a cell, Sharky agreed to a game of cards with an unusual wager—he agreed to bet his soul on a single game of poker against Lockhart, who is not a normal human but something much older and more dangerous. Sharky, a strong player, beat Lockhart in the game, but there was a clause in the deal—although Sharky would go free then, Lockhart would have the opportunity to return at a future time to challenge Sharky to a rematch for his soul.

The final act is a poker game between the five men. While Richard, Ivan, and Nicky all think they are playing a harmless game of cards, Lockhart and Sharky know that this is much more. Lockhart and Sharky engage in an aside dialogue throughout the game, as Lockhart taunts Sharky about the oncoming loss of his soul and reveals himself to be an ancient, demonic entity that consumes souls. At first, it seems that Sharky’s soul will be lost as he does not have the best hand. Lockwood senses this and is about to call and claim Sharky’s soul when he is surprised to see Ivan has four aces. The nearsighted old man had assumed he was holding a hand of four fours, but actually has the best hand possible in poker. And with that, Lockwood takes his leave as Sharky, thankful for his close escape, rededicates himself to avoiding meeting Lockwood again.

Conor McPherson, an Irish playwright and director, is the founder of the Fly By Night Theater Company in Dublin. The author of seventeen plays and the writer/director of six films, he is currently slated to serve as the screenwriter on the film adaptation of the popular Artemis Fowl book series. He has won multiple awards, including the Evening Standard Award, the Critics Circle Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Laurence Olivier award, as well as receiving nominations for the Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Awards. His most recent play, The Girl from the North Country, is a collaboration with Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan.