"...a rich, serious, deeply involving play about the shadows of the past and the power of silent love."
"...this is a richly absorbing and emotionally abundant play..."
"Butterworth has done it again, this time with another rural drama of mighty magnitude set across a single, darkening day."
Northern Ireland, 1981. The Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor.
Jez Butterworth is a playwright and screenwriter.
His stage plays include Mojo (1995); The Night Heron (2002), a gangster drama set around a club in 1950s Soho and Winterling (2006), both of which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre; Parlour Song (2009), which opened in New York in 2008; and the multi award-winning comedy, Jerusalem (2009), starring Mark Rylance as Johnny Byron. In 2009, it was named second in The Times Top Twenty Plays of the Decade, and opened on Broadway, New York in 2011.
He also adapted the plays Mojo in 1997 and Huge in 1993 for the screen.
Other screenplays are Night of the Golden Brain and Christmas, in 1993 and 1996 respectively, both written with his brother Tom Butterworth. He wrote the screenplay for Birthday Girl, 2001, starring Nicole Kidman, and The Last Legion in 2007. His screenplay Fair Game, was written with his brother John Henry Butterworth, telling the story of Valerie Plume, the CIA spy. He co-wrote Spectre, the latest James Bond film, released in 2015. He is also an actor and director.
The world premiere of The Ferryman opened April 24, 2017 at London's Royal Court Theatre to unprecedented acclaim.
