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Shannon's Misterman Experience
The Black Box Theatre
by Shannon
Shannon shares her unforgettable Misterman experience in Galway.
If you thought Cillian was an amazing actor, you have no idea how amazing he is until you see him performing live as Thomas Magill in Misterman.
I was completely sucked into the story, I don't know where that hour and a half of my life went to, and I don't care either. I was just rendered speechless by the whole production. I'd read the play a few times before seeing it, and I'd read the recent reviews of the play. I knew that Enda Walsh had revamped the older version a bit, the version I'd read, and I was curious as to what had been changed or added.
I saw Cillian a couple months back in Cork at In Conversation with Corcadorca, and being an American I showed up over an hour early, so that I could try to get some good seats. (My 71 year old mother pushed four teenaged girls to the floor in order to secure the best seats in the house!) :) We were the only ones there until about twenty minutes before the interview was due to start. I learned that Europeans are a little less insane about this sort of thing... So the play started at 6pm on my first night here. I didn't want to be too early, and I'd already walked over to the Black Box Theatre earlier in the day so that I would know how to get there from my hotel.
So I left at about 5:15 for my five minute walk over to the theatre. There was a line a mile long all waiting to get in! Crap! And I didn't have my tickets yet because I'd just arrived in Ireland this morning, so I had to go in the "Ticket Collection" line before I could even get into the long winding line to go into the play. The tickets were all open seating, so chances are you're going to get crap seats unless you're at the start of that line.
Finally got in and saw the place was packed, but I noticed two empty seats on the aisle in the fourth row up, a little right of center. Yay! And they were not taken. Yay! So I sat there for awhile trying to figure out the best way to record the show on my phone cam, and then I noticed someone asking a woman in the front row if two seats were taken. She said that one was, but apparently the other one wasn't. Since I was there on my own. Zoom! Right to the front row. Yay again! So now I knew I would have a good clear view for my camera.
Unfortunately, just before the show started they said there would be no photos or recording allowed. I would just have to memorize the play. Luckily I had the foresight to purchase tickets for as many shows as I could fit into my vacation here. Yes. I was able to see him six more times over the next ten days. It just seemed silly not to, really. I'm here. The cost of tickets is reasonable. I'm supporting the arts, man! Tell me you all wouldn't be doing the same thing!!
But I did take a photo of the front of a local newsagent's store, that I will share. I was walking along minding my own business and BAM! There is Cillian's face on the front window — at least three feet high!
So sitting and waiting. I was trying to figure out anything by studying the set before the play started. It looked dull and dark and messy and disorganized, like someone's garage that needed a good cleaning. Furniture turned upside down, crumpled cans, cobwebs, long fluorescent light fixtures hanging down, a set of stairs that led up to a desk with a tape recorder on it. I saw at least four different tape recorders set up around the room. I just wasn't sure how they would be used. That wasn't in the original script. A couple of tables were set up in different areas on the stage, some chairs in other places, a sink on the far right side of the stage, and a makeshift stove on the far left. A large trash bag was mid-stage, a huge plastic bucket of something far left, a hurling stick, a rusty old barrel, teacups, and a suit hanging on the far left wall... I couldn't wait for the show to start!
Lights went out and you could hear someone come in and start scampering around the stage. I knew the story, so I knew that's how it began. I just had no idea how funny it was going to be. Cillian has some great skill at being the straight man in a comedy bit! I had been reading the reviews as the play being tragic and comedic at the same time, but I just couldn't picture it from what I'd read on the page. Cillian brought Thomas alive and then some. He was racing around that stage like a little hamster on speed! One side to the other, up the stairs, down the stairs, out to a back stage door and front again. He wears baggy worn-out trousers that are a few inches too short for him, a dirty white shirt, and dark socks with sandals (one big toe poking out of one sock!) And of course, the longish hair and unruly beard he'd grown for the performances. The play really did start out rather funny, and it remained a good bit funny throughout, until the end was nearing. Tragedy walked in slowly but really ended the show with a bang.
I soon discovered that there really is no good or bad seat in the house, because the stage is huge and he plays the entire stage at different points during the production. Some way out far to the left, some in the middle, some on the right. My first night watching the play I was to the right. I spent one night on the far left, and the rest I was somewhere in the middle. But always the front row. I feel so fortunate to have been able to come to Ireland, to see this play as many times as I did, and to sit that close to Cillian every night and witness some of the best acting in his career.
I knew that Cillian performed alone, but that he also took on the voices of several other characters in the play. And then I found out that there were some recordings used during the performance that were more characters spoken by a number of different people including Cillian. (Eileen Walsh was also one of the voices!) He was so funny and amazing when carrying on a live conversation between two characters. It reminded me of his roles in Peacock when you could really see the different mannerisms and speech patterns between John and Emma.
There was one scene where Thomas was being mauled and manhandled by this old woman who runs the cafe, and it is absolutely hilarious watching him switch between the lecherous Mrs. Cleary and the perfectly petrified and traumatized Thomas Magill! :)
I read something that Enda had said. He was saying that someone had come up to him after the play one night and said "I was really rooting for Thomas, right up until the end." Enda found that really moving. And I really did find myself rooting for him as well. There were parts of him that I could identify with, parts of him I understood but didn't agree with, parts of him I didn't like, and parts of him that scared the crap out of me.
Really, in the end, I developed an affection for Thomas. After seeing it so many times, and even knowing the whole story probably almost as well as Cillian, I found myself wanting to comfort and protect Thomas by the end of the play every night. I think that's Cillian's gift; bringing a character alive off the page and making the audience feel something for him (or her, in some cases.)
When the play ends he is given a standing ovation and comes out for a second and sometimes third bow. Very humble bow. You can see that he loves doing what he does, and you thank God he dropped out of the law courses. I knew this was going to be something amazing. This is why I came back to see him just two months after my trip to Cork. I knew I had to see him performing live. And even if I only got to see it once, it would be worth the trip over.
Okay, now for the nitty gritty stuff you all really want to know. He runs around a lot in the play and gets quite sweaty. He purposely spits a few times during the play. He also spits quite a lot, not so purposely, while he's speaking for different characters. I'm quite certain that if you were sitting just right in the front row, you would be annointed with one or both of those bodily fluids. And maybe a few other fluids. There are a lot of props being thrown about and used in this play. Mrs. Cleary's tea kettle for one. Eamon Moran's tar-like tea for another.
He speaks a little bit of Irish and he sings a little bit of a hymn during the play. Yes he really does get rained on. Yes he really does take off his shirt after being rained on. And yeah, the pants come off too. Sit on the left side of the stage if you feel you must lust! The seats are very close to the stage and he performs only a few feet away from the front row. There was a point when he was on his knees panting directly in front of me, sweat dripping from his face... Gah!
In the end, you really feel like you've been on a little 90 minute adventure with Cillian. The audience reaction really seems to be a part of the performance, and the lighting and music effects are phenomenal. The ending scene makes the audience feel as if they are the ones at the community dance where Thomas screams out to admonish the residents of Inishfree.
After seeing it seven times I've had the opening song stuck in my head all week, enough to drive me a little crazy! But I also found some cool residual memories that my brain planted. While I was out exploring Galway on Monday, after having only seen the show once, I was in one of the art galleries near the exit door and out of nowhere I heard a dog bark. It literally sent my memory whooshing back to Misterman the night before and I was just expecting to see Thomas come running out from the corner and start yelling at the dog to go away. There are several recorded dog barks in the show. It just amazes me that things like that can stick in your brain without you even being aware of it.
I offered myself for volunteering at the festival while I'm here. I told them I would be the perfect personal assistant for Mr. Murphy, but I'm not sure they bought it ;) I did end up volunteering a few times with one of the outdoor programs, the Dinosaur Petting Zoo in the park. I was also supposed to steward and one of the Misterman matinees, but they ended up with too many volunteers for that day, so I was unable to participate in that one, unfortunately.
The Dinosaur Petting Zoo ended up being a wonderful event for me though. I worked the show on Thursday and Friday, but on the Tuesday before I just happened to be in the park when it was going on and I wandered over to check it out. Who stood only a few feet from me then? Cillian Murphy! I saw the beard and knew it had to be him, but I wanted to be sure before approaching him. He was wearing sunglasses, a green army jacket and blue trousers rolled at the cuff. Stripey socks :) He did have one of his children with him, on his shoulders, so I didn't want to be intrusive. But how often would I have the opportunity to speak directly to Cillian and tell him how brilliant I thought his performance was? So I stepped to his side and said "Cillian" softly next to his ear. I think he was in a sort of protective papa bear mode when I did so, and it took him a second to turn to me, but then I told him that I thought the show was amazing and that I would be seeing it again that night. He said thank you and was polite, but I know he really just wanted to be a dad at that point, so I just left it at that and faded back into the crowd.
That night at the show I sat beside another American woman who had also happened to meet Cillian that day. She was trying to find the Black Box Theatre and stopped a man to ask directions. A bearded man. She actually asked Cillian for directions without knowing, at first, that it was him. How funny! She told me he was very pleasant and chatty with her. I'm sure he was much more at ease being on his own and chatting with a fan without it intruding into his personal life outside of the acting. The woman was actually mentioned in a story in the Irish Times this past Saturday July 23rd.
Overall, best experience ever! I love Ireland and the people are so friendly here. I got to see a fantastic play, several times, I got to participate in a local festival, and I met Cillian Murphy! Galway is a gorgeous city. Probably the only city in the world where a country mouse like me could ever live. And thanks to Cillian Murphy I walked back to my hotel after the play each night with a smile plastered across my face that never seemed to want to leave.
As an added note. I just returned from watching the last performance of Misterman. I'm at the point where I know when he misses or changes a line. He actually took a spill tonight by accident, but recovered with style. I think I was one of the few who actually knew that wasn't meant to happen. When it was over I didn't go straight back to my hotel, but when I did decide to head back, after about an hour, I passed a clean-shaven Cillian on the road. I have to say that is the ONLY good thing about the play ending. That damned beard is history! :)
