Murphy Plays: 6

The Cherry Orchard; She Stoops to Folly; The Drunkard; The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant

Tom Murphy

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781408123898
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático

Murphy Plays: 6 brings together four plays by the author inspired by other great works of literature:

The Cherry Orchard: In Chekhov's tragi-comedy - perhaps his most popular play - the Gayev family is torn by powerful forces, forces rooted deep in history and in the society around them. Tom Murphy's fine vernacular version allows us to re-imagine the events of the play in the last days of Anglo-Irish colonialism. It gives this great play vivid new life within our own history and social consciousness.

She Stoops to Folly: Modelled on Oliver Goldsmith's classic novel The Vicar of Wakefield, Murphy builds a comedy peopled with thieves, pimps, bawds, lechers and imposters who will prey on innocence unless God - or the ruling class - takes a hand.

The Drunkard is inspired by the American temperance play first performed in 1844 and attributed to W. H. Smith and A gentleman. A drama in five acts, it was perhaps the most popular play produced in the United States before the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the 1850s.

An epic family drama, shot through with dark humour, The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant tells the tragic story of a family disintegrating, having lost its moral values and is inspired by The Golovlyov Family by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. It follows Arina who rises from servant girl to matriarch controlling a vast family estate and empire until she slackens her hold and loses her power to the hypocrisy and relentless grasping of her chosen son.

The Vicar of Wakefield

Previously published under the title
She Stoops to Folly

To the memory of my friend Noel O’Donoghue

The Vicar of Wakefield, under the title She Stoops to Folly, was first presented at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, on 1 September 1995. The cast was as follows:

Vicar	Jim Norton
Mrs Primrose	Jane Carr
George	Scott Denny
Olivia	Devon Raymond
Sophy	Jennifer Parsons
Moses	Christopher DuVal
Dick	Aaron Cohen / Anthony Petrozzi
Bill	Andrew Wood / Jason Lau
Mr Burchill	Richard Doyle
Mr Thornhill	Douglas Sills
Reverend Jenks	Ron Boussom
Maid/Landlady/Lady Blarney	Lynne Griffin
Miss Wilmot/Miss Skeggs	Emily Chase
Wilmot/Flamborough/Gaoler	Don Took
Landlord/Butler	Art Koustik
Timothy Baster	Todd Fuessel

Directed by Barbara Damashek
Designed by Ralph Funicello
Lighting by Peter Maradudin
Music and sound by Nathan Birnbaum

The Vicar of Wakefield, under the title She Stoops to Folly, was subsequently presented at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 4 October 1996. The cast was as follows:

Vicar	Jim Norton
Mrs Primrose	Dierdre Donnelly
George	Michael Devaney
Olivia	Alison McKenna
Sophy	Dawn Bradfield
Moses	Rory Keenan
Dick	Simon Jewell/ Sean O’Flanagain
Bill	Darren McCormack/ Daniel O’Connor
Reverend Wilmot	Clive Geraghty
Miss Wilmot	Dierdre O’Kane
Landlord	Des Cave
Landlady	Fedelma Cullen
Maid	Derdriu Ring
Mr Burchill	David Herlihy
Mr Thornhill	Frank McCusker
Reverend Jeuks	John Olohan
Butler	Derry Power
Lady Blarney	Barbara Brennan
Miss Skeggs	Fionnuala Murphy
Flamborough	Stephen Blount
Gaoler	Niall O’Brien
Ephraim Jenkinson	Brendan Morrisey

Directed by Patrick Mason
Designed by Francis O’Connor
Lighting by Nick Chelton
Music by Shaun Davey
Choreography by David Bolger

Characters

Vicar

Mrs Primrose

George

Olivia

Sophy

Moses

Dick

Bill

Reverend Wilmot

Miss Wilmot

Landlord

Landlady

Maid

Mr Burchill

Mr Thornhill

Reverend Jenks

Butler

Lady Blarney

Miss Skeggs

Flamborough

Gaoler

Ephraim Jenkinson

The play derives from The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith.

Act One

Scene One

Jail – Wakefield

Hollow clanging of an iron door. A spot comes up on Vicar, Dr Primrose, in abject state in the lower depths of prison. (There is another prisoner beside him – later, Jenks – his back to us, who appears to be writing something.) Gaoler has arrived to stand on the top step above them.

Gaoler Vicar! Your fellow-prisoners be assembled for their daily sermon.

Vicar does not move.

Gaoler But, considering the woeful news you had today, I can disassemble them again. Yea, let them do without.

Vicar Thank you, Mr Gaoler, but I’ll continue to do my duty. Sir, a moment, please.

He needs a moment to think. The lights are changing: we are going into flashback. And he begins his story.

I was ever of the opinion that the honest man who married and brought up a family did more for his country than he who continued single and only talked of population. I chose my wife as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface but for such qualities as would wear well. To do her justice, she was a good-natured woman, could read any English book without much spelling, and prided herself upon being an excellent contriver in housekeeping, though I could never find that we grew any the richer for all her contrivances. However, we loved each other tenderly, and our fondness increased as we grew old . . . It would be fruitless to deny exultation when I saw my little ones around me, and the vanity and satisfaction of my wife were even greater than mine.

Lights have come up to show the Primrose family in the former happiness and elegance of their Wakefield home. Centre of attention in this happy scene is George, the eldest, nervous and eager, who is being groomed and dressed for an event. Olivia, about nineteen, very beautiful and romantic, is trimming his hair; Sophy, the practical one, is sewing an adornment to his jacket; Dick and Bill, of an age, say about eight – why not, say, twins? – polishing the buckles on his shoes. And the precocious one, Moses, about sixteen, is reading a book. A Maid enters and exits later on. And the whole is being supervised by Mrs Primrose who is entering, who is – fifty?

Mrs Primrose Haste, haste, haste! Hasten, boys! Laws, Sophia! Is it necessary to sit so, huddled like a creature over your needle? Hasten, Olivia! What would they have said of Venus if she had developed the stoops? (Demonstrating her deportment as she exits.) Heads up, so, my dears!

Moses Venus, said to be the daughter of Jupiter and Dione, the wi...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Chronology
• Introduction
• The Vicar of Wakefield
• The Cherry Orchard
• The Drunkard
• The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant