doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


Tommy Murphy

TOMMY MURPHY

  (1979 - )
Nationality:    Australian
twitter     email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Cameron Creswell Agency  

Tommy Murphy was born in 1979 in Queanbeyan, the seventh of eight children. He is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (Director's course) and the University of Sydney where he was president of Sydney University Dramatic Society. He was winner of the Sydney Theatre Company Young Playwrights' Award and the ACT Young Writers' Award for his first play, For God, Queen and Country. His second play Troy's House has been performed in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Strangers in Between and Holding the Man were commissioned, developed and premiered by the Griffin Theatre Company where Tommy was in residence. Strangers in Between won the 2006 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Best Play.

Research:    http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/6614

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Tommy Murphy's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         360 Positions In A One Night Stand         Bendy         Blood Wedding         For God Queen and Country         Gwen in Purgatory         Holding the Man         Kinderspiel - Out of Bounds         Kings X Stories         Mark Colvin's Kidney         Massacre At Paris         Operation Marlowe         Peter Pan         Precipice         Rough Draft #3         Saturn's Return         Strangers In Between         Syphon         Troy's House         Try Hard

360 Positions In A One Night Stand

Synopsis:
One election, two actors, five writers, ten characters and 360 positions. A play about love and sexual politics

Notes:
written by Nick Marchand, Ben Ellis, Victoria Gleeson, Tommy Murphy And Emma Vuletic

1st Produced:
Bowlers' Club Of Nsw, Sydney, Nsw     17 Jan 2002

Organisations:
Sydney Festival 2002

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
one act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/18000

Top of Page Top of Page

Bendy

Synopsis:
Can we bend our world? Students have a historical obligation to participate in the dawning of social change but sometimes they can't even manage the washing up. Bendy captures the voice of a generation struggling in a world that prioritises money over thought. It's about a trippy time of life when you can get off your head with history's great thinkers or fly out the window of a dirty terrace hand in hand, with a friend, float across the city and bang on the windows of big business. It might be a time of life when you can change the world.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Atyp Studio, Walsh Bay, Nsw     05 Jul 2002

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
80 min TYA

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  variable, up to 43 roles

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17809

Top of Page Top of Page

Blood Wedding

Synopsis:
As the god of dance, ecstasy and chaos, Dionysus is a symbol of the raw, primal urges that are often in conflict with civilising forces of order and control. Festival Of Chaos explores the forgotten power of Dionysus, and invites him back to tear apart the comfort and conventions of our material world. FedErico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding is a poetic tragedy of thwarted love which sees two young people on the eve of their ill-fated wedding day. With Dionysus lurking in the shadows and a history of bloodshed pulsing through the veins of their tiny, rural community, the wedding party disintegrates, re-igniting the flames of a family feud.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Federico Garcia Lorca. With the Bacchae And Hedda Gabler, Blood Wedding forms part of 2012's unique trilogy of plays, Festival of Chaos. A two month celebration in Northampton, the Festival explores the contemporary relevance of the god Dionysus.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
2012 Made in Northampton Season

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

For God Queen and Country

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Gwen in Purgatory

Gwen in Purgatory
Gwen is 90. She woke up this morning to discover that purgatory is sitting alone in a new house in a new subdivision on the edge of town, trying to work out if the remote in her hand operates the TV, the air-con or the fanforced oven. But the kids are coming round and Father Ezekiel is on his way to bless the house, so the beginning of the end is looking up. . . Written specially for Company B, Gwen in Purgatory is Tommy Murphys brilliant existential comedy about an African missionary in the wilderness of Australian suburbia. Gwens brood of ordinary souls is battling along in a changing world and wringing out the last drops of their matriarchs faith. Between them they may just find their way to some sort of forgiveness.

Notes:
winner of the 2010 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Drama Script category

1st Produced:
Belvoir St Upstairs Theatre, Surry Hills, Nsw     31 Jul 2010

Organisations:
Company B Belvoir and la Boite Theatre

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/84279

Top of Page Top of Page

Holding the Man

Holding the Man
Tim Conigrave was an actor and NIDA graduate and his moving memoir Holding the Man has theatre in its veins. It is also one of our greatest stories of love and loss, and won the 1995 UN Human Rights Award for Non-fiction. This story is a breathtakingly honest, achingly funny and completely heart-wrenching account of a 15-year relationship that weathered disapproval, separation, temptation and, ultimately, death. Its a story, and a celebration, that speaks across generations, sexual preference and cultures.

Notes:
Adapted from Timothy Conigrave's classic memoir

1st Produced:
Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Nsw     09 Nov 2006

Organisations:
Griffin Theatre Company

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation. - - Gay/Lesbian, historical characters

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/68429

Top of Page Top of Page

Kinderspiel - Out of Bounds

Synopsis:
An innovative Internet inspired theatre work exploring what unites and divides kids from different cultures, starring 14 teenagers from Sydney and the same number from Berlin.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Opera House Studio, Sydney, Nsw     01 Jan 2002

Organisations:
Sydney Festival 2002

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17992

Top of Page Top of Page

Kings X Stories

Synopsis:
An eclectic triptych covering the ragged possibilities of survival in the city's most eccentric area.

Notes:
written by Mary Rachel Brown, Adam Grossetti and Tommy Murphy

1st Produced:
Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Nsw     09 Oct 2003

Organisations:
Griffin Theatre Company,

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
triptych

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25255

Top of Page Top of Page

Mark Colvin's Kidney

Mark Colvin's Kidney
A premiere Australian play based on actual events, showing just how startling real-life can be. Mary-Ellen Field is a successful Australian business consultant in London-until she's accused of betraying the secrets of her supermodel client to the press. Her life comes crashing down: her job, her health and her standing in society collapse. When it emerges that her client's phone had been hacked by reporters, Mary Ellen sets out to defiantly restore her reputation. But along the way, her ideas of redemption change-she's been interviewed by a journalist on the other side of the world, and his story puts everything into a new perspective.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, NSW     01 Mar 2017

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Currency Press, Australia (2017) >>>    978-1-76062-001-1

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  with doubling

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/127000

Top of Page Top of Page

Massacre At Paris

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Based on "Massacre At Paris" by Christopher Marlowe

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Operation Marlowe

Synopsis:
Australian Theatre for Young People adapts and alters two Marlowe plays for performance, Edward ll and Massacre at Paris.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Christopher Marlowe

1st Produced:
Newtown Theatre, Newtown, Nsw     09 Mar 2001

Organisations:
Australian Theatre For Young People

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/7236

Top of Page Top of Page

Peter Pan

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Based on the play "Peter Pan" by J M Barrie

1st Produced:
New Victory Theater, New York     01 Jan 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Precipice

Synopsis:
Four thirteen-year-old boys dare each other to jump from a cliff into the harbour. One can't do it. He remains on stage summoning the courage to leap as scenes from the future reveal the characters at various stages of adolescence. Then one of the boys on the cliff reveals a secret power. Like the audience, Yusuf can see the future. Initially his premonitions are fun, and aim to reassure the boy who can't jump. Then a darker premonition is exposed as one of the boys' futures goes blank. How will Yusuf use this knowledge? Will anyone listen?

Notes:
Cranbrook School commissioned Tommy Murphy, to respond to stories and improvisations of 18 extraordinary Drama students. Precipice is a vivid and comic celebration recalling the child in us all. Sitting on the edge, summoning our courage to jump. Precipice recalls feelings that stay with us throughout our lives. "I have never written a play before where I began with the actors. I have also never written a play for eighteen of them, " Tommy Murphy said. " We genuinely started with no preconceived ideas," he said. Director Robert Wickham said, " it is exciting theatre, the process began with the students and with Tommy they have shaped a wicked and entertaining play". Students contributed thoughts, ideas, stories and experiences and from this collection, called "the fodder file", Murphy has constructed a powerful narrative which captures the emotion and thoughts of the students. " Precipice is by no means an exclusively teenage domain - our thoughts as adults are shaped by the precipice of youth and these moments stay with us through our lives," Tommy Murphy said.

1st Produced:
Parade Playhouse, Sydney, Aus     2007

Organisations:
Cranbrook School

1st Published:
http://Australianplays.org/   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy drama 65 min

Parts:
Male:  16            Female:  2            Other:  Originally done with an all-male cast

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Rough Draft #3

Synopsis:
The penultimate Rough Draft of 2009 is inspired by a night time expedition through Sydney. Earlier this month playwright Tommy Murphy and director Simon Stone travelled across the city on a journey that took them to locations as diverse as Sydney International Airport, RPA Hospital, the offices of the Australia First Party and a tattoo parlour in Kings Cross.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Wharf 2, Walsh Bay, Nsw     05 Sep 2009

Organisations:
Sydney Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
piece

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/84162

Top of Page Top of Page

Saturn's Return

Saturn's Return
Saturn has returned, and a moment of doubt changes everything. the universe conspires against Matt and Zara, and Zara is jettisoned into orbit. Sex on drugs has become sordid, but the allure of the threesome is still tempting. the prospect of having children is no longer odious, but mortgages and responsibility remain objects of contempt. It's time for lock down. But who's playing? Shifting perspectives on identity and Tommy Murphy's trademark comic flair combine to create a lively theatre of insight and ingenuity.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Wharf 2, Walsh Bay, Nsw     15 Aug 2008

Organisations:
Sydney Theatre Company

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/77366

Top of Page Top of Page

Strangers In Between

Strangers In Between
This play follows the story of Shane as he arrives in Kings Cross, Sydney. He is a boy unsure of his sexuality and even more unsure how to find intimacy. He has been forced out of his family and yearns for another. An unlikely mother figure arises in John, a 50-year-pld single gay man. Small domestic events like running a bath become moments where respect and love are expressed between two men from different generations. A warm, insightful and generous comedy. Tommy Murphy was moved to write this play having encountered two brothers who haven't spoken to each other for three years. Tommy set out to explore the binds within family. No matter how deep the wound, can Shane erase his family? Is it possible to be born into the wrong family? the play also provides an opportunity to explore the relationships between four very different men. the dialogue captures Australian male voices, both urban and regional and both young and old, that are seldom portrayed with such truth and poetry

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Nsw     11 Feb 2005

Organisations:
Griffin Theatre Company

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  1 doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/65833

Top of Page Top of Page

Syphon

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
the Production Company presents the Australia Project II: Australia Strikes Back!, A program of new works by Australian playwrights. the following description is from the show's press release: "Twelve Acclaimed Australian playwrights create pieces based on their perceptions of the United States. the Australia Project II: Australia Strikes Back! includes new plays from some of Australia's most celebrated playwrights. the Production Company's work promotes And deepens cultural exchange between the United States And Australia And encourages Artists to explore the relationship between the two countries."
- nytheatre.com

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Production Company

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Troy's House

Synopsis:
the nation's capital forms the backdrop to this story about youthful romance, hope, responsibility and the time immediately after leaving school. the main interest in the writing process of Troy's House was to capture the specific language of teenagers from Canberra. The most important house in Canberra isn't on top of a hill and it doesn't have a flagpole. It's a small govie house in Warramanga where love blossoms in a cloud of pot smoke, where partying is infectious and so is the couch.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Carlton Courthouse, Carlton, Vic     01 Feb 2005

Organisations:
La mama

1st Published:
http://Australianplays.org/   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Surreal satirical black comedy 70 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  variable up to 15 roles

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/91685

Top of Page Top of Page

Try Hard

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page