Misterman, With Cillian Murphy

By Maureen

Let me just get this disclaimer out of the way: I fucking love Cillian Murphy. I would crawl through a river of shit, Andy Dufresne-style, just to listen to him read the phone book. Which, in a twisted and complex way, he kind of does in Enda Walsh’s play Misterman.

I had the extreme good luck of getting to see this play during its extremely limited run at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. The story focuses on young Thomas (Murphy) as he goes about a typical day of his life in Innishfree. Murphy plays most of the additional characters, utilizing changes in accent, voice, and mannerisms. Thomas sets out from the little house he shares with his mother (one of the rare voices not also performed by Murphy) to buy her favorite cookies and on the way has a series of encounters with local townspeople. That’s basically it for the plot, but I had a suspicion going into the show that all would not simply be as it appears, given my familiarity with Walsh and Murphy’s previous collaboration, Disco Pigs.

There are underlying mentions throughout the play of a public dance at a local community center, which serves as the setting for the show’s ambiguous climax. There is also an undertone of religion and retribution, with Thomas walking through town taking notes in a little notebook of what sins the townspeople are guilty of committing. He tries throughout the day to emulate the values his late father was known for, while trying to stay true to himself by not getting coerced into attending the local dance.

The plot is really secondary to the performance, though. Murphy is nothing short of miraculous, becoming at least seven different characters without changing his clothes, hair, and while using minimal props. (The fact that he’s essentially carrying on both sides of most conversations, like Sméagol/Gollum in The Lord of The Rings trilogy didn’t cross my mind until about the fourth such interaction while watching the play.) He becomes every character completely, no matter how briefly he inhabits them. He conveys emotions effortlessly, while never crossing characters. You always know exactly who he is supposed to be, even if it’s a character the audience is meeting for the first time. Different characters bring out different sides of Thomas, and we see the full gamut of his personality within the 90 minute running time.

It’s hard to really describe the show, as I’m still processing the events and creating my interpretation of what I witnessed. Anyone who has seen Disco Pigs can understand that Walsh’s works typically pack a wallop of an ending, and Misterman is no different. I discussed the show briefly with the other women waiting in line for the restroom, and we all had different questions with different answers. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen Cillian Murphy perform live. I just wish it were easier to explain exactly what I saw.

For more on Misterman or Cillian Murphy, please visit The CillianSite.