A Whistle in the Dark

A Whistle in the Dark is a play by Tom Murphy that premiered on September 11, 1961 at the Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London, having been rejected by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.[3] It then went on to be a West End hit.[4] Murphy was twenty-five years old at the time.[5][6]

A Whistle in the Dark
Poster for the 1961 production, after it had moved to the Apollo Theatre, London
Written byTom Murphy
CharactersMichael Carney
Harry Carney
Des Carney
Hugo Carney
Dada
Iggy Carney
Betty
Mush
Date premieredSeptember 11, 1961[1]
Place premieredJoan Littlewood's Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London.[2]
Original languageEnglish
SubjectIrish diaspora, family, violence, masculinity
Settinga living-room in Michael's house in Coventry, c. 1961

The play tells the story in three acts of the climactic confrontation between Michael, the oldest of the Carney sons, and his father and brothers, a brawling, hard-drinking, criminal gang of Irish immigrants living and working in Coventry. A powerful portrayal of tribal violence and the devastation it brings in its wake in spite of attempts to stand against it, it remains Murphy's best known and most performed play. John Lahr of The Village Voice saw its influence in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming.[7] Other plays showing its influence are Gary Mitchell's In a Little World of Our Own, Rod Wooden's Your Home In The West and Jimmy Murphy’s The Kings of The Kilburn High Road

Original cast

Canadian productions

In 2005, Toronto's The Company Theatre (TCT) chose A Whistle in the Dark for its debut production at Canadian Stage's Berkeley Street Theatre. Helmed by Irish director Jason Byrne, the show played for three weeks in Toronto with an all-star cast of Canadian actors:[9]

  • Joseph Ziegler as Michael Carney Sr. (Dada)
  • Jonathan Goad as Michael Carney Jr.
  • Allan Hawco as Harry
  • Philip Riccio as Des
  • Sarah Dodd as Betty
  • Oliver Becker as Iggy
  • Aaron Poole as Hugo
  • David Jensen as Mush

Stage Manager Robert Harding joined the creative team as stage manager, with Kinnon Elliott as his assistant stage manager. Set and costume designer John Thompson and lighting designer Andrea Lundy rounded out the team. Thompson would go on to work extensively with TCT, designing sets for Marion Bridge (2007), Festen (2008), Through the Leaves (2010), The Test (2011), and Speaking in Tongues (2012/13).[10]

A Whistle in the Dark was named "Best of 2005" in multiple Canadian newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, National Post, Now Magazine, and eye weekly. Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star called it "the most muscular piece of theatre we've seen in Toronto in some time," going on to add that "[The Company Theatre's] choice of a worthy play, a first-class director and an excellent cast show it knows what it takes to make good drama."[11]

The production received two 2005 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations in the Independent Theatre category: Outstanding Production and Outstanding Lead Performance Male for Joseph Ziegler.[12]

In 2007, TCT remounted A Whistle in the Dark with Jason Byrne directing. Much of the cast remained the same, though Richard Clarkin took on the role of Iggy Carney and Dylan Roberts played Mush. The show played at LSPU Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland in March and at Toronto's Young Centre for the Performing Arts in April of that year.

Radio adaptation

BBC Radio 3 gave the first radio broadcast on 20 December 2009, directed by Roland Jaquarello.[13]

References
  1. T. Murphy (1983). "Produced, Praised, and Hammered - jstor". Theatre Ireland (4): 17–19. JSTOR 25488860.
  2. Martin Middeke; Peter Paul Schnierer (28 May 2010). The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary Irish Playwrights. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 264–. ISBN 978-1-4081-3268-5.
  3. "A Whistle in the Dark". The Stage, What's On Reviews, 7 March 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  4. Martin Middeke; Peter Paul Schnierer (28 May 2010). The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary Irish Playwrights. A&C Black. pp. 310–. ISBN 978-1-4081-1346-2.
  5. "Tom Murphy's belated Fringe debut". The British Theatre Guide, 2005. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  6. "A Whistle in the Dark". The Tricycle Theatre. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  7. "Tom Murphy's Éire force". The Village Voice, 22 January 2002. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  8. "Production of A Whistle in the Dark, by Thomas Murphy | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  9. "Review - A Whistle in the Dark - Company Theatre, Toronto - Christopher Hoile". www.stage-door.com. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  10. "A Whistle In The Dark". The Company Theatre. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  11. "Opinion | Whistle muscles its way to greatness". The Toronto Star. 2007-04-02. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  12. Jones, Kenneth (June 28, 2005). "Urinetown, Half Life, Bigger Than Jesus Among Winners of Toronto's 2005 Dora Awards". Playbill. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  13. "Drama on 3, A Whistle in the Dark". BBC Radio 3 website. Retrieved 2009-12-30.


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