Speech of the Devil

I thought about uploading this YouTube video in the weeks coming to Halloween. It is taken from The Seafarer, a play by Irish playwriter Conor McPherson. I have never seen it, I go to the theater way too seldom, but I purchased it and read it. I read more plays than I see them. If only it was to be on stage... But I can enjoy a play just for its text, sometimes more than an actual performance. It is the case with this play, it is so good I wonder if the stage can do it justice.

So I thought to upload the clip around Halloween, but since the play is set at Christmas, I thought it fitted better to upload it closer to Christmastime. It belongs to the tradition of Christmas supernatural stories (A Christmas Carol belongs to it too). Of course, McPherson brings a twist to it: it is set in modern times, with modern characters having to deal with their own demons. In this case, it is a literal demon: Satan himself coming in a human form to claim the soul of Sharky, the protagonist. It's a story with poker, plenty of Irish alcohol, Christmas feasts and Catholic guilt. And a Devil who is as melancholic as he is cruel, as weary as the humans he torments. This monologue, said with the right tone (it is the case here) is powerful and evocative. If there was a hell, it would feel like this.