Why The Veil made me sleepy?

By Brittany Taylor

Conor McPherson’s The Veil takes place in nineteenth century Ireland. Reverend Berkeley arrives to escort Hannah to be married off to England and help save her mother’s estate. But Hannah life will have a fairytale ending due to the eerie voices that follow and taunt Hannah through the Mount Prospect House.

On the National Theatre's website the fall production of The Veil  has raving reviews:

4 STARS 
Daily Mail, The Times


‘A haunting mixture of old mysticism and modern dilemmas.’ The Times


‘An atmospheric and haunting tale of lost souls.’ Evening Standard 

I'm not really sure if we saw the same play. This is a play that I would like to not define my time in London. I was really excited to see a play on Halloween because I expected to be spooked out or left with an eerie feeling once the production was over. Neither of those things happened but instead I was left feeling very tired and confused.

McPherson's play lacked the ability to evoke any sympathy towards the characters. It was very hard to try and relate to characters within the play due to the dialogue. Each scene within the play did not differ from each other.

The scene I thought would turn this play around for the good was where Reverend Berkeley convinces Hannah to participate in a séance. I imagined voices, flickering lights and more importantly ghost.  What the audience got out of the scene was a large build up for a loud banging noise. This noise was the only component of the play that caught the audiences’ attention. The scene lacked any emotion. The character Hannah’s fear for spirits following her was not convincing enough to promote any fear within the audience. I felt Hannah was not as afraid of the spirits as the play tries to make me believe. What I saw was a girl who was afraid to start a new life and had a chip on her shoulder. The scene could have been made better by including the whole cast in the séance as well as using the stage more to promote a spooky presence. Flashing lights could have even made me want to pay attention more.

I usually try my best not to fall asleep during something that was paid for but I could not help myself during this production. The National Theatre is a really beautiful place and the Littleton Theater has really comfy seats. As a result of the cushioned seats I did the unthinkable.

Yes you guessed it. I fell asleep.  But I was not the only person who felt the play was not compelling enough. A good portion of the audience did not come back for the second half after the intermission. I guess they found other plans for Halloween.

On a positive note, the set was pretty awesome. I enjoyed the props and the whole dining room set. The lighting that changed the scenes from day to night is also worth noting.

Overall, I gave this play as many chances as I could without jumping to quick conclusions but in the end the production did not complete its goal to entertain.