Following an immensely acclaimed world premiere at the Galway Arts Festival this past summer, St. Ann's Warehouse and Imagine Ireland will present the American Premiere of Misterman, November 30-December 21 at St. Ann's Warehouse. Murphy makes his American stage debut with a tour-de-force solo performance in this Landmark Productions / Galway Arts Festival co-production, his first collaboration with playwright/director Enda Walsh since Disco Pigs, which launched both men's careers 15 years ago.
Misterman will run November 30-December 3, December 6-10, 14-17, 20-21 at 8:00 P.M.; December 4, 11, 18 at 7:00 P.M.; and December 11, 15, 18 at 2:00 P.M. Critics are welcome as of December 3 for an official opening on December 4. The running time is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Tickets, which start at $45, are available online at www.stannswarehouse.org and by phone at 718.254.8779 (Tuesday-Saturday, 1:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M.) or 866.811.4111 (extended hours Monday-Friday, 9:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M.; Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M.). They can also be purchased at the St. Ann's Warehouse Box Office at 38 Water Street Tuesday-Saturday, 1:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. This production of Misterman is part of Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland's year of Irish arts in America, and is supported in part by piece by piece productions.
Written and directed by Enda Walsh, Misterman is a dark, dangerous and blisteringly funny tale about a proselytizing, small-town fanatic on his own judgment day. Portraying the unraveling protagonist Thomas Magill, self-proclaimEd Moral leader of Inishfree, Murphy navigates an emotional spectrum that ranges from minutely subtle to unsettlingly explosive. Like a child trying to push a rock up a hill, in an abandoned warehouse, Magill imagines journeying through the village, seeking salvation for his neighbors. All the while hearing voices in his head, on reel-to-reel tapes that he has recorded, and becoming all the characters live, he desperately strives to settle his actions of the recent past. As he becomes increasingly unhinged, surprisingly, he becomes sadder and more winning to the bitter end. Walsh describes it as "a really bad dress rehearsal for God's right hand man."
Misterman has garnered tremendous acclaim. Reviewing the world premiere, The Guardian said, "Murphy is riveting...a bravura celebration of [Walsh's] theatrical vision." The Irish Independent has described the production as "theatre at its most raw, most barbaric and most beautiful," and The Sunday Independent calls Misterman "a marvelous achievement."
The production benefits from a world-class creative team that includes set design by Jamie Vartan, and features lighting design by Adam Silverman and sound design by Gregory Clarke. The show features an original score by Donnacha Dennehy, founder of the renowned Crash Ensemble and one of Ireland's leading contemporary composers.
Misterman is a coming-full-circle for Murphy, who began his acting career in Walsh's Disco Pigs. One of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, Murphy's film credits include the current In Time and Inception, Batman Begins, Breakfast on Pluto, The Wind that Shakes the Barley and the forthcoming Red Lights, with Robert De Niro and Elizabeth Olsen.
Misterman was first produced in 1999; for the new production, Walsh has greatly expanded the text. Misterman follows a number of Walsh plays St. Ann's Warehouse has presented over the last few seasons: Druid's The Walworth Farce, The New Electric Ballroom and Penelope.
About Enda Walsh (Writer/Director)
Enda Walsh is a multi-award winning Irish playwright. He lives in London. His work has been translated into over 20 languages and has been performed internationally since 1998. His recent plays include Penelope (Druid Theatre Company), which has been presented in Ireland, America and Britain, from 2010-2011. Other plays for Druid include The New Electric Ballroom, which played Ireland, Australia, Edinburgh, London, New York and LA from 2008-2009, and The Walworth Farce, which played Ireland, Edinburgh, London and New York, as well as an American and Australian tour, from 2007-2010. Walsh's other plays include Delirium (Theatre O/Barbican), which played Dublin and a British tour in 2008; Chatroom (Royal National Theatre), which played at the National and on tour in Britain and Asia (2006-2007); and The Small Things (Paines Plough), which played London and Ireland (2005). His early plays
include Bedbound (Dublin Theatre Festival) and Misterman, Disco Pigs and The Ginger Ale Boy (Corcadorca). His film work includes Disco Pigs (Temple Films/Renaissance) and Hunger (Blast/FILM4, directed by Steve McQueen, featuring Michael Fassbender).
