Misterman – A Sold Out Theatrical Performance by Cillian Murphy

July has finally ended and as much as I wanted to go to Ireland to see Cillian’s one man performance…I was struck with the fact that I don’t have enough money to go to Ireland

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This month’s Monthly Murphy will emphasize on his performance in Misterman, the reason why I want to go to Ireland.

Thomas is on a journey. Where did it begin? What voices does he hear? And what will they tell him to do?

Cillian Murphy makes his eagerly–awaited return to the stage in a dark, dangerous and blisteringly funny tale of one man and his judgement day.

What kind of story is Misterman?

Seen through the eyes of a quiet, devoutly religious loner – or, more precisely, created in front of us with his jerry-rigged apparatus – it is a place somewhere between purgatory and hell, where Thomas Magill, instrument of the Lord, carefully records everybody’s daily trespasses.

Alone in Black Box Theatre’s eerily cavernous space, Cillian Murphy’s sandals and biblical beard may suggest a Messiah complex, but Enda Walsh’s greatly expanded version of his 1999 play pushes further: he is actually playing God. “Let there be light,” says Murphy, and lo, lamps burn from above and below, casting ghoulish shadows across Jamie Vartan’s exposed, industrial set.

(taken from Irish Time)

Thomas Magill (a hirsute Cillian Murphy) is a well-meaning evangelist who has an obsession with sin. Sifting through his memory, he repeatedly relives his searches for the heavenly peace that he might expect to come “dropping slow” in his town of Innisfree. Frustrated by all around him, and on the day of the town’s ‘community dance’, Thomas decides to set off on a proselytizing tour of his neighbours. From the ban an tí to the garage mechanic and even to Roger the dog, “sin is our religion” and yet all could be saved if Thomas works hard enough. Lonely, mocked and often thwarted in his mission, Thomas’ zeal is re-charged when the angelic Edel offers to accompany him in his good works…

(Taken from Irish Theatre Magazine)

You can see behind the stage in this site (shared by Barry)

Collection of praise on his performance in Misterman:

The crowd

“I’ve never revisited any of my plays before,” Walsh reveals, “but Cillian came to me one day about two years ago and said he would really like to perform Misterman. When I looked at it again, I felt there was a lot more I could do with the play. I wanted to delve deeper into Thomas and really crack open the head of this character and all his dealings with issues of guilt.

“And in Cillian Murphy we have an actor who has the intensity and courage to push himself to the limit. Working to all our potential I hope and believe we can offer a slice of Ireland and Irish theatre that feels dangerous, deeply unsettling, and challenging for any audience.”

Enda Walsh‘s opinion about Cillian shared in Galway Advertiser

In a genuinely virtuoso performance, Murphy thus uses the minute detail of a film actor – his flickering eyes and expressive range are deftly eloquent – together with an impressive physicality that fills the stage (Walsh’s frequent collaborator Mikel Murfi is movement director). Delineating between several characters with instant shifts in voice and body, he charges through the space, never removing a prop if it can be flung, never approaching a liquid without sloshing it over his ruined world. It’s fiendishly enjoyable to watch, as are the fillips of hokey stage devices, even as the dread of his tale creeps up on you.

Peter Crawley from Irish Time

To describe Cillian Murphy as amazing in Enda Walsh’s one-man show Misterman barely begins to do justice to the actor’s performance.

There are moments when he barely moves, moments when he can’t stand still and at one point when he is cowering during a beating from an irate neighbour, it’s difficult to believe that he is the only person on stage

Judi Murphy from Galway City Tribune

Murphy relishes the swift character changes and the opportunity to use every voice, body and acting contortion conceived by Stanislavsky and beyond. The dance, mimicry, physical japes, even Murphy’s well-known cutesy little-boy act: all are well executed, timed and impeccably judged. One realises why he is so requested: Murphy hits the mark every time.

Matthew Harrison from Irish Theatre Magazine

Under Walsh’s direction, Cillian Murphy turns in an electrifying, bravura performance as Thomas Magill, the prophet without honour in his hometown who seeks in vain to set his neighbours on the road of godly righteousness

Charlie Mcbride from Galway Advertiser

The scale of the staging dilutes some of the intensity in this production, but Murphy is riveting, even in scenes that seem over-extended

Helen Meany from Guardian.co.uk

Standing ovations for Cillian Murphy in Misterman.
“We are absolutely delighted at the response to Misterman, which is one of the most successful shows ever staged by the festival,” said Mr Fahy.

Kernan Andrews  from Galway Advertiser

Eye-Witness

Barry Houlihan who works for Galway University as a researcher for the English/Theatre and History Departments had written a marvelous post about The Magic of Misterman in his blog,  Staged Reaction. He also shared an interesting article about Cillian and Walsh reunite in his archive of the Galway Arts Festival. He has kindly shared his thought about Misterman to me Thank you Barry.

Misterman was the highlight of the 2011 Galway Arts Festival. Written by the immense and award winning Enda Walsh, Misterman, was specially reworked for the Festival and with Cillian Murphy in mind for the lead role. Murphy is simply outstanding in the role in what is edge-of-your-seat theatre. Misterman is an incredible achievement between Walsh and Murphy and it astounded all who were lucky enough to see it

I totally envy him…but I wasn’t lucky enough to live in Galway, Ireland, like him.

He also shared this nice mp3 file : Miriam Meets… Enda Walsh and Cillian Murphy

What he said about being on stage

“It is haunting my dreams and just taking over,” he says. “I adore that sort of immersion in work. It’s all you think about and all you live and breathe, and to me that’s more exciting than popping in to play a cameo in a film or something.”

From Independent Woman

Special gratitude to CillianSite that always constantly updating the site with so many links of news  about him

And most pictures are taken from cillian murphy tumblr fan account…thank you so much

Great shots of him with beard…even with so many hair on his face,he is still looking gorgeous *love* (click this link to see it better) and I did a photoshop on 2 photos from the photos below, see it here

 

Extra News! (please don’t make this the main talk in the comment)

 

This is not related to Misterman, but the trailer of Cillian’ s newest movie, In Time, has been released recently. As I have already said so many times…I am not intrigued by the story or  plot of this movie and I hate the leading actor. Basically,I  will not see this if Cillian is not in it…plus he is looking hot in that suit

 

He is the only one I want to see (copied from Ride The Kick)