And, like God, I was pleased

A wonderful article in the Guardian Arts section by Colm Tóibín, celebrating the work of Galway-born writer Tom Murphy – “The nearest thing we have to genius” – whose Alice Trilogy opens tomorrow at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Tóibín notes the rejection, by the Abbey Theatre of Murphy’s first play, A Whistle in the Dark, a rejection that was accompanied by an “abusive letter for portraying the Irish in England in such a dark light”, and Murphy’s subsequent advisory role, in the 1970s, to the Catholic Church in finding a new language for the mass. Interesting, too, to read of his working rituals and on his own plays – “I think they are living things.. I learn from actors.”

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