The Ferryman(Royal Court)

Depends what the parameters are for the recasting. Might be that there are plans to take it to Broadway (I'd have thought so) and so the person taking over might be being groomed for that too.

I like Paddy Considine but felt that he lacked some of the charisma and danger that I would have liked. I would hope that whoever is cast is a slight improvement in that respect.

While we have a short while to play fantasy casting I'm going to throw out a couple of early names out:

Extravagant coups would be the returns to stage of big movie names like Michael Fassbender or Colin Farrell.

Solid theatre actors who would probably be very good: Peter McDonald, Jonjo O'Neill or David Caves.

Regarding the recasting it is in the producers best interest to go with a name to follow the name, on the other hand this play doesn't really need a massive name it would seem a backwards step to not go with someone who is a household name. The situation with The Great Comet in New York is the prime example of what happens when you don't follow up on big name casting.

www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2017/howard-sherman-bad-producing-decisions-made-great-comet-musical-crash-earth/

I wouldn't have thought the play needed a star name. I thought the play was very much an ensemble piece and with such good reviews and word of mouth it would extend anyway.

Once they announce who it is, let's all come back and discuss if their status means the run is likely to extend, or finish in January as planned. I reckon a bigger name will mean a shuttering, but a less-famous theatre stalwart will mean they're seeing if the play will sell itself with a view to extend. (I might buy a ticket for the Christmas period now, just in case it's someone properly smashing.)

I wonder how much motivation there is for a big name star to take on this role immediately after Paddy Considine.

Quinn Carney is a great role, and there are actors with more star-power who may well give a better performance than Paddy Considine. However, given how unanimous the critical praise has been for the play, anyone stepping in now can surely only see the reviews go down. As an audience member I tend to take the star ratings with a pinch of salt. However, I can imagine for the creative team -both in terms of their egos and their perceived 'value' in the industry- there might be a worry that updated reviews might reappraise The Ferryman, and by implication themselves, as four stars. It would be different if the play was transferring to the US, or if this was a revival.

Putting that aside someone like Michael Fassbender taking on the role would be fantastic, but would surely make finding tickets impossible. For someone in that scale of superstar, my vote would be for Cillian Murphy.

Of course, to some extent, the issue is somewhat moot; the standout turn when I saw it was probably Laura Donnelly, so if she's staying on (and has good chemistry with Considine's replacement), I'll be happy.

Is Mark Rylance available? He does a brilliant Ulster accent, as those who saw his Benedick 20 years ago can attest.

William Houston will play Quinn Carney. Sarah Greene takes over from Laura Donnelly and Maureen Beattie takes over from Brid Brennan. There are some other changes.

Well he's certainly got the ferocity for it, but I don't know about if he'd be my choice for the first three hours of the play.

I'm putting 50p in the pool for post-January extension then, assuming sales don't drop off around Christmas.

The fact they didn't extend the booking period with this cast announcement makes me think they'll probably close in January

I am pretty sure Marianne Elliott has the Gielgud booked for her season after Ferryman closes. She wanted it for all her shows, but Heisenberg ended up at the Wyndhams after Ferryman extended. The fact that Long Day's Journey has booked in after Heisenberg makes me think Ferryman will close on schedule, or do a very small extension. Unless they've placated Elliott by offering her the Noel Coward after Labour of Love ends, though they might be thinking of extending now with losing two weeks of the run today. Who knows? 

I saw the matinee on Saturday and really enjoyed it. It's like a British "Agusut Osage County" with its big family as protagonists, inner conflicts, big cast for today's standards and long running time. I read it a few months ago and I'm glad I did: those Irish accents are thick! It's a bit different from what I imagined reading it - the banshees of the final scene were less literal than I expected - but in the best of all the possible ways. I don't get all the fuss on Paddy Considine, he was fine in a fine cast, but hardly outstanding. The acting honors for me go to Bríd Brennan and Dearbhla Molloy, both great and unique in their very different roles. And it's always a joy to see my future husband Fra Fee on stage.

Special mention to Genevieve O'Reilly in the non-showy role of Mary, she brought a lot of heart to the part. Very good John Hodgkinson, but really the whole cast is great, including the baby, the rabbit and - especially - the goose. Very well staged and directed, loved the set, the costumes, the music and the dancing. I'll try to catch it with the new cast, but it won't be the same without Bríd

Ok, ok, so nice touch of the Conor McPherson's in the title there. What is it about Irish plays, no I mean plays that purport to be about Ireland, Eire, Northern Ireland...?
The blarney, the dancing, the thing with little animals.. I can see you loved them, icouldleaveyou, but I could have done without the baby, the goose, the rabbits, the first half an hour.
It was all so well researched wasn’t it? All the nasty details about the Troubles and I did feel as if I was being preached at. And some clunky dialogue - am I wrong but I don’t think people walk into a room and say 'I have to speak to ...on her own now' do they? And the staging a bit tricky: the chair on the extreme right seemed out of place and people kept sitting in it!
But having felt a bit 'meh' as did t above, I do think there was some seriously good stuff here- the pure Republicanism of the old aunt which had deteriorated into gangsterism, and she couldn’t see it so thought it was an honour to shakes Muldoon's hand, the chat between the lads which was funny and edgey, the tension between the old ways and the new. All that. And the ending was well earned, the farmer who had forsaken his past was actually a trained killer, fast and ruthless. The past could not be erased. At times I felt that I was being told that the Troubles were all a result of dysfunctional families but getting past that I think this play does have a contemporary resonance in the way it showed how young men can be turned into callous gang members and ultimately violent thugs or worse.

They will love it in New York. They like long, Irish and a bit of dancing.