Conversations on a homecoming
Encyclopedia
Conversations on a Homecoming is a 1985 play by Irish playwright Tom Murphy
. Premiered by the Druid Theatre Company
, Galway
, Ireland in a production directed by Garry Hynes
. As one of the great Irish plays set in a pub, its influence can be seen in more recent plays such as The Weir
by Conor McPherson
.
Michael is an actor who has returned to Ireland after emigrating to America to try and make a career. He has returned to see his old friends, Tom, a contemporary of his, and JJ, an inspirational figure from their youth who, in the time of Kennedy's period in the White House, came to the town and became a sort of subversive guru, challenging the Church and urging the young men of the town to aspire to bigger things.
As the play unfolds it emerges that no-one has fulfilled his potential. Michael has failed as an actor and has tried to set himself on fire while in America, JJ is seriously ill and Tom's youthful idealism and intelligence has given way to the savage indignation of a man who feels he has been deserted by his mentor (JJ), his best friend (Michael) his dreams and his life.
As everyone gets progressively drunker truths are told and souls are bared. Michael is shocked by Tom's negativity but when he challenges him to leave Tom makes an excuse for remaining in the town. It emerges that Michael's leaving was the thing which broke Tom's heart the most. At the end of the play Michael leaves the pub and the town, telling JJ's daughter, who seems to represent a kind of hope in the play, to pass on his love to JJ.
. Hugely well received on its original production which transferred to London after its Irish debut, it has been performed in Belfast and revived at the Abbey since. It still awaits a major revival in the UK.
Brilliantly written, caustic and bleak in places but possessed of a suppressed romanticism and idealism struggling to emerge it evokes the atmosphere of the small-town Irish pub with its apparent bonhomie disguising deepseated pain and tensions with consummate skill. As with all of Murphy's plays there is immense darkness and moments of nihilism in the writing but ultimately there is an optimism and belief in the human spirit which transcends the suffering of the characters.
In the original production the actors drank real alcohol on stage, the process of buying of rounds, consuming drink and going to the toilet being carefully plotted into the action.
Tom Murphy (playwright)
Tom Murphy is an Irish dramatist who has worked closely with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and with Druid Theatre, Galway. He was born in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland...
. Premiered by the Druid Theatre Company
Druid Theatre Company
The Druid Theatre Company, founded in Galway in 1975, was the first Irish professional theatre company to be established outside Dublin. The theatre company was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally after the three had met and put on productions together while members of the...
, Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, Ireland in a production directed by Garry Hynes
Garry Hynes
Garry Hynes is an Irish theatre director. She holds the distinction of being the first female to win the prestigious Tony Award for direction of a play.Hynes was born in Ballaghadereen, Roscommon County and educated at St...
. As one of the great Irish plays set in a pub, its influence can be seen in more recent plays such as The Weir
The Weir
The Weir is a play written by Conor McPherson in 1997. It was first produced at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, England, on 4 July 1997. It first appeared on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 April 1999. It has since been performed in Toronto, Dublin, Belfast, Boston,...
by Conor McPherson
Conor McPherson
Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.-Life and career:McPherson was born in Dublin, . He was educated at University College Dublin, McPherson began writing his first plays there as a member of UCD Dramsoc, the college's dramatic society, and went on to found Fly By Night Theatre...
.
Plot
The homecoming of the title is that of Michael to his home town in Ireland. Set entirely in a pub where he and his friends used to drink the play unfolds in real time, Murphy showing an extraordinary stage sense for the rythmns of drinking as an evening wears on.Michael is an actor who has returned to Ireland after emigrating to America to try and make a career. He has returned to see his old friends, Tom, a contemporary of his, and JJ, an inspirational figure from their youth who, in the time of Kennedy's period in the White House, came to the town and became a sort of subversive guru, challenging the Church and urging the young men of the town to aspire to bigger things.
As the play unfolds it emerges that no-one has fulfilled his potential. Michael has failed as an actor and has tried to set himself on fire while in America, JJ is seriously ill and Tom's youthful idealism and intelligence has given way to the savage indignation of a man who feels he has been deserted by his mentor (JJ), his best friend (Michael) his dreams and his life.
As everyone gets progressively drunker truths are told and souls are bared. Michael is shocked by Tom's negativity but when he challenges him to leave Tom makes an excuse for remaining in the town. It emerges that Michael's leaving was the thing which broke Tom's heart the most. At the end of the play Michael leaves the pub and the town, telling JJ's daughter, who seems to represent a kind of hope in the play, to pass on his love to JJ.
Stage History and Themes
Conversations On A Homecoming remains one of Murphy's most accessible plays, written in a similar supposedly naturalistic style as his earlier masterpiece A Whistle In The DarkA Whistle In the Dark
A Whistle in the Dark is a play by Tom Murphy that premiered in 1961 at the Theatre Royal Stratford East London having been rejected by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. It then went on to be a West End hit. Murphy was twenty-five years old at the time...
. Hugely well received on its original production which transferred to London after its Irish debut, it has been performed in Belfast and revived at the Abbey since. It still awaits a major revival in the UK.
Brilliantly written, caustic and bleak in places but possessed of a suppressed romanticism and idealism struggling to emerge it evokes the atmosphere of the small-town Irish pub with its apparent bonhomie disguising deepseated pain and tensions with consummate skill. As with all of Murphy's plays there is immense darkness and moments of nihilism in the writing but ultimately there is an optimism and belief in the human spirit which transcends the suffering of the characters.
In the original production the actors drank real alcohol on stage, the process of buying of rounds, consuming drink and going to the toilet being carefully plotted into the action.
See also
- A Whistle In The DarkA Whistle In the DarkA Whistle in the Dark is a play by Tom Murphy that premiered in 1961 at the Theatre Royal Stratford East London having been rejected by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. It then went on to be a West End hit. Murphy was twenty-five years old at the time...
- The Sanctuary LampThe Sanctuary LampThe Sanctuary Lamp is a play by Irish playwright Tom Murphy written in 1975 but revised for subsequent productions. When premiered at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin its anti-Catholic stance caused enormous controversy with its author denounced in pulpits up and down the country...
- The Gigli ConcertThe Gigli ConcertThe Gigli Concert is a play by Irish playwright Tom Murphy premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 1983 and widely regarded as his masterpiece.-Plot:...