A love letter to Enda Walsh and Cillian Murphy

Tonight, I went to see a play. No shocker there. You might recall from my previous post that I was going to see Misterman, starring Cillian Murphy. Well, that was my destination tonight and it was absolutely fantastic. The play is written by Enda Walsh, and this particular performance was also directed by him.

Now, Enda Walsh plays are generally described as weird or disturbed or 'messed up'. Which, to be honest, on paper and, in general, they are. But they (meaning the only two I have read) are also original and compelling and all of those nice words people use in reviews. Anyway, I headed off the theatre excited and a bit unsure what to expect. It was a one man show though the people behind the scenes had just as much work to do as Cillian. I can't get over how good it was. If the show weren't sold out, I would go again. and again. and again. And it's not really a heartwarming tale. Basically (and this is very basic), you have Thomas, a religious fanatic who is trying to single handedly save his town from sin and in the end, does some very bad things. Throughout the day, he meets with random locals and Cillian plays them all through change in voice/dialogue. To describe it is impossible. There are funny moments, frightening moments, very sad and touching ones, and then, like the last scene, terrifyingly touching moments. You realize exactly what has happened and yet, you still can't hate him thoroughly.

In a nutshell, I want to be friends with these guys. They're super talented and appear (from the interview afterwards) to be the type of artist that just does their thing without worrying too much about explaining it after. I love that. I may not have had the guts to walk up to either of them after the show and shake their hands to say Thank You, but I hope one day to be recognized as their kind of artist.