Recommended by Conor McShane

  • Conor McShane: The Hanging Girl

    I love any story that creates a local legend, which always lends it a real sense of place, as well as being effectively creepy, and this play does that really well. The theme of whether or not we're forever defined by our youthful mistakes, if we're ever truly able to change who we are, is potently rendered and lends the story a genuine pathos. The chilling ending makes for an appropriately eerie capper!

    I love any story that creates a local legend, which always lends it a real sense of place, as well as being effectively creepy, and this play does that really well. The theme of whether or not we're forever defined by our youthful mistakes, if we're ever truly able to change who we are, is potently rendered and lends the story a genuine pathos. The chilling ending makes for an appropriately eerie capper!

  • Conor McShane: Dust

    This play plunges us into the mind of a monster with no means of escape, forced to see the world through his eyes. It also pulls of the pretty incredible trick of not being his story, despite being locked into his point of view. Reading doesn't really do it full justice, and I hope to someday be able to see it in its horrible, mesmeric glory.

    This play plunges us into the mind of a monster with no means of escape, forced to see the world through his eyes. It also pulls of the pretty incredible trick of not being his story, despite being locked into his point of view. Reading doesn't really do it full justice, and I hope to someday be able to see it in its horrible, mesmeric glory.

  • Conor McShane: Madre de Dios

    A thrilling fusion of ghost story, speculative fiction, and spirituality that work together beautifully, anchored as they are to the story of a grieving family whose pain feels raw and real and lived-in. I know I'm going to be thinking about that final image for a long time!

    A thrilling fusion of ghost story, speculative fiction, and spirituality that work together beautifully, anchored as they are to the story of a grieving family whose pain feels raw and real and lived-in. I know I'm going to be thinking about that final image for a long time!

  • Conor McShane: The Clockmaker's Gift (ten-minute play)

    A funny and charming adult fairy tale with a theme that just gets more relatable as the years go by. I'm at a point in my life where I'm beginning to realize that when the time's gone, you never get it back, so better enjoy what you have while you can!

    A funny and charming adult fairy tale with a theme that just gets more relatable as the years go by. I'm at a point in my life where I'm beginning to realize that when the time's gone, you never get it back, so better enjoy what you have while you can!

  • Conor McShane: ASS2MOUTH

    The sort of gutsy, wild, risky work that every theatre should aspire to produce, but so few would dare attempt. It implicates the audience as complicit in its conflation of violence and sexual desire, making it somehow deeply perverse and also the most normal thing in the world. Its 185 pages fly by breathlessly til the very end.

    The sort of gutsy, wild, risky work that every theatre should aspire to produce, but so few would dare attempt. It implicates the audience as complicit in its conflation of violence and sexual desire, making it somehow deeply perverse and also the most normal thing in the world. Its 185 pages fly by breathlessly til the very end.

  • Conor McShane: The Housing Situation on Neptune

    A stunning speculative epic that touches on nearly every anxiety we face in the world today: climate grief, income inequality, the corporate undermining of our government, the rise of artificial intelligence, and so much more, but doesn't forget to center everything around what's most important: the characters. It practically leaps off the page, and I would love to see it fully staged in the way it deserves to be.

    A stunning speculative epic that touches on nearly every anxiety we face in the world today: climate grief, income inequality, the corporate undermining of our government, the rise of artificial intelligence, and so much more, but doesn't forget to center everything around what's most important: the characters. It practically leaps off the page, and I would love to see it fully staged in the way it deserves to be.

  • Conor McShane: So You Want To Create A Universe?

    I love the cosmology we're presented with in this play, the notion that a singular, eternal, all-knowing God is a manmade invention, and the truth is a whole lot messier. I could read a whole series of plays about this succession of Creators and their universe-making foibles!

    I love the cosmology we're presented with in this play, the notion that a singular, eternal, all-knowing God is a manmade invention, and the truth is a whole lot messier. I could read a whole series of plays about this succession of Creators and their universe-making foibles!

  • Conor McShane: Bad Necromance

    I love any time something odd or supernatural is a fully accepted part of life in a story, and this play handles that so well with its take on freelance necromancers. It's the perfect mix of blackly funny and surprisingly sweet. And hey, preventing food waste seems like a worthwhile cause to me!

    I love any time something odd or supernatural is a fully accepted part of life in a story, and this play handles that so well with its take on freelance necromancers. It's the perfect mix of blackly funny and surprisingly sweet. And hey, preventing food waste seems like a worthwhile cause to me!

  • Conor McShane: All The Pretty Colored Bottles Under The Sink

    I love the sense of unease that builds throughout the play, starting from something that feels off from the jump and allowing us to discover what's happening as Audrey does. I can see some cool opportunities to amplify the unease through performance and design, which is always a nice bonus.

    I love the sense of unease that builds throughout the play, starting from something that feels off from the jump and allowing us to discover what's happening as Audrey does. I can see some cool opportunities to amplify the unease through performance and design, which is always a nice bonus.

  • Conor McShane: Fifty Boxes of Earth

    I've often seen the original Dracula story interpreted as an allegory for Victorian Britain's fear of immigrants, and this play takes that seed of an idea and grows a wholly different, delicate, and beautiful new life from it. It's a tough story full of pain, misunderstanding, and fear, but also deep resilience and hope. The use of movement and magic cries out to be staged in its full glory, and I hope someone does it soon, preferably where I can see it!

    I've often seen the original Dracula story interpreted as an allegory for Victorian Britain's fear of immigrants, and this play takes that seed of an idea and grows a wholly different, delicate, and beautiful new life from it. It's a tough story full of pain, misunderstanding, and fear, but also deep resilience and hope. The use of movement and magic cries out to be staged in its full glory, and I hope someone does it soon, preferably where I can see it!