In high school, I attended a production of Julius Caesar at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut. It was spellbinding. Years later, came Dustin Hoffman on Broadway in Merchant of Venice, a Royal Shakespeare Company production presented here in Brazil of Henry VI Parts 2 and 3 and Vanessa Redgrave, also in Brazil, in Antony and Cleopatra. They were breathtaking. I loved the films too–Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, Olivier as Richard III, Orson Welles transformed into Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight. I found the written words just as enthralling, especially the curious essays on “ceremony” or “commodity” that find their way into the crowded plots of Shakespeare’s plays and the gorgeous speeches on “the quality of mercy” and “the ages of man.” In 1980, I first discovered Brazil’s rich theatrical tradition when I enjoyed the privilege of interviewing Nelson Rodrigues, then and forever the nation’s greatest playwright, at his home near the beach in Rio de Janeiro. He died shortly after at age 68. I read all 17 of his full-length plays in the four-volume collection organized in 1981 by literary critic Sabato Magaldi. I saw several performed under the tutelage of the great Brazilian theater director Antunes Filho, whom I interviewed in 1982. Writing is a difficult joy. During busy years as a full-time journalist, I found time to write two of the six full-length plays cited herein. But ideas and notes kept piling up in those years. When I retired from full-time journalism at the end of 2013, I wrote the other four plays contained in the present collection. They are inspired by the words of William Shakespeare and many other playwrights, as they are inspired by the words and events of everyday life. More recently, I discovered the joy of storytelling in prose. My short novel, Deadlock, is an American political thriller that also serves as a warning: what happens if no one is elected President? Deadlock is available on Amazon.com. A second, longer novel is still in progress. Irish Mafia confronts the issue: what happens when the Mafia comes to town, and the town fights back?
Find Thomas Murphy’s books, in both Kindle and paperback versions, on Amazon.com at:
Three Plays in English (B088T4XMH8) https://www.amazon.com/Three-Plays-English-Noblewomen-Croessus-ebook/dp/B088T31CHP/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=three+plays+in+english+by+thomas+murphy&qid=1597676659&sr=8-18
Três Peças em Português (ASIN: BO89LYGY1J) https://www.amazon.com/Tr%C3%AAs-Pe%C3%A7as-em-Portugu%C3%AAs-Portuguese/dp/B089LYGY1J/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Tres+Pecas+em+Portugues&qid=1595363262&sr=8-1
Deadlock: What happens if no one is elected president? (ASIN: BO86PLNK12) https://www.amazon.com/Deadlock-What-happens-elected-president-ebook/dp/B086R6PJSB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=deadlock+by+thomas+murphy&qid=1595363580&sr=8-1
Photo credits: Shakespeare’s London (British Library); 20th Century Martyrs (Westminster Abbey)