‘THE FAMILY IS PERHAPS THE
MOST UNDEMOCRATIC
INSTITUTION IN OUR SOCIETY'
Family damning
TOM MURPHY is one of Ireland’s foremost dramatists. His early play, A Whistle in the Dark, the violent tale of a dysfunctional Irish family and its partial relocation to England, he talks to Steve Cramer about identity, the family and the state.
There seemed to be an element of dislocation, in a complete sense, in your characters in The Wake and Too Late for Logic. What drives them?
in. I think dixlocation ix thc right \Hlt'tI. 'I‘hcxc arc tlprootcd pcoplc. Ilonlc for a lot of pcoplc ix not a gcographical. linitc placc. l’coplc arc dixlocatcd in placc. hut alxo ill thcir mindx. 'l‘hat dixlocation alxo happcnx in I‘CIIL‘I‘. lhc) ~t‘L‘ “Cd [0. litll tlIxtl ill xL'th'L‘It ttI' ittlltlL‘L‘llL‘C. Innocence is not what the average audience would equate with the characters of A Whistle in the Dark.
\Vcll. lhc) ‘rc dixlocatcd l'roln innoccncc. from a promixc
that \\ ax hrokcn. I’romixcx madc in lair) talcx. or
promixcx ntadc h} thc (‘htlrch You ha\ c pcoplc likc llarr) in .t ll‘ln'ti/t' in [/It' Dark. llc'x a pimp. and hix moralx arc total”) at an anglc \tith thc rcxt ol‘ lhc \\or|d.
th hc ix thc moxt romanticall} inclincd and idcalixtic of‘
thc charactcrx. I’coplc ha\ c on occaxionx xaid to mc that in} charactcrx arc \cr} harxh. _\ct thc harxhcr lhc} arc. thc inorc romantic thc_\ arc. c\cn gtillihlc and innoccnt. The play deals with violence, both physical and emotional. Even given that it’s now over 40 years old, it still retains a certain capacity to shock with this violence.
'l'hcrc ix thc morc xcnxational action ol~ .xomconc hrcaking a hottlc mm a hcad. but that xccmx to dixtract l‘rom thc inncr cmotional turmoil l'm tr_\ing to gct at. 'l‘hc fact ix. thc l‘amil} ix pcrhapx thc moxt undcmocratic inxtitution in our xocict).
What does the play tell us about the Irish abroad? 'l'hcrc \\ ax a lot of angcr and ragc in mc \xhcn l urotc
thc pla}. though I didn‘t ncccxxaril} knou it at thc timc. 'I'hc hctra}al of thc church through I1_\[i()L'l'I\_\. thc hctra}al of thc xtatc ol' itx t)\\'n pcoplc \\ ax xuch that pcoplc kit in thcir thotlxandx. th thc_\ \xcrc lcl't \\ ith lhc l‘ccling ol‘ hctra}ing thcir countr}. \thich had in tact hctra}cd thcm. 'l‘hc rcprcxxion in thix countr} \\ ax tcrrihlc at that timc: thc rcprcxxion of thc church. In tocing thc linc and conforming. a tcrrihlc xtrcxx \\ ax placcd on _\oung pcoplc. Somc pcoplc didn't knou \\Ilitl to do \\'llIl thcir l‘rccdom \thcn thc_\ got tl\\tt_\ from that atmoxphcrc. 'l‘hc craic camc in hratxling in puhx and in thix gcncral ctllt ol' \ iolcncc.
The family at the centre of the play is, in many ways, repellent. How have people responded to it over the years?
\\'hcn it lirxt “cm on in tum. \xolncn \tcrc \cr}. \cr} t‘rightcnctl of thc pla}. 'l‘hc} tcndcd to rcjcct it. No“ il‘x hccn donc lair!) rcgularl} xincc thcn. and thcrc n ax onc donc at thc .-\hhc_\ in NW. \thich \tcnt to thc Ro}a| (‘ourt ()n that occaxion. of‘ thc lllil pcoplc \\ ho camc up to mc at'tcruardx to xa_\ '\\cll donc‘. and xo on. 9‘) xccmcd to hc \tomcn. ’I'hat‘x quitc a xociological xhilt. What I‘m ama/cd h} ix him man} pcoplc rcxpond to thc latlicl'. Hc u ax thc charactcr I thought u ax incrcdihlc from thc xtart. l \tondcrcd \thcthcr pcoplc \\()llItI hclic\ c him. But xo man) pcoplc haVc xaid to inc 1th had an unclc or f'athcr t‘igurc \\ ho u ax jtixt ax t_\rannical. So ma} hc thcrc arc pcoplc out thcrc \\ ho. dcxpitc thc intcnxit} and cmotionalixm of thc piccc. \lill xa} of thcir lamiliCx. ()h (iod. I \\axtl't alonc altcr all. That xort ol idcntilication \\tltlILI hc good.
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‘1 THE LIST 93