Starting in theatre

1. Jordan Morris: So…were you interested specifically in theatre before you were involved in (your) first show, or did it happen that you found the scene and then were inspired to explore it and take part?
2. Caitlin Murphy: I…hmm… order of events… I… chose to write a play as a thesis project in the last year of my undergrad degree at University… usually people write essays for their thesis projects, but I got permission to write a play instead; it still involved a lot of research—as it was about Samuel Beckett’s wife and James Joyce’s daughter—I just wanted to use that research from a creative perspective instead of an academic one. That was the first play that I ever wrote.
3. JM: And what was the first work that you saw here in London? That was from the local “alternative scene”?
4. CM: I [went to see] a show by Jason Rip that was called Hollis Gets the Girl—
5. JM: So…you see the show and then thought… maybe I can do this too?
6. CM: Yeah! I thought that was really exciting to think that that people around my age are doing it. That it was so accessible and possible to produce original work and put it out in front of an audience.
7. JM: So what was the first case of you actually getting involved directly in a production?
8. CM:

   Uhmmm…doing a production on campus: the Summer Shakespeare play Measure For Measure in… 1999?… which has always talked about as the show that kind of brought together the University crowd and the “downtown”—quote unquote—crowd that was doing theatre. And, suddenly those groups met and came together, and that led to a lot of the projects that everybody made their names from.

   [...] After I met all of the people in that show, I co-wrote an evening of sketch comedy with Jayson McDonald, that was made up of sketches about romantic relationships called Gross Inaccuracies. It was mounted at the former 123 King space where people came to see The Boneyard Man. That was my first time writing for an immediate audience and I was very, very worried that nobody would laugh at my jokes and only laugh at his…so when I got laughs I was really excited by that and it was… uh… it was a fun show and well received and got me excited about doing more.

Acting

1. JM: History of the Devil. Big show for Jason Rip’s Theatre Nemesis. Big cast.
2. CM: Big cast.
3. JM: My first show. Big time. McManus Studio, two week run. All kinds of new faces for me too…And…I enjoyed getting to know this person: Caitlin Murphy. Although at first I was pretty sure you hated me.
4. CM: (Laughing) Oh, I did.
5. JM: (Laughing) Um. But that was a pretty spectacular show. Big piece. How many people? Fifteen anyway, I would say. Yeah?
6. CM: Yeah

Writing and producing and The O Show

1. JM: And…after [Chelsea and Boggs], you sort of changed direction slightly and instead of performing, you decided to concentrate more on the writing side of the art?
2. CM: Yeah. And producing. I produced plays that I’d written. Directed shows that I’d written. And ah… not really acting as much…other than The O Show.
3. JM: Your own show. Tell us about that show.
4. CM: It was a one-woman show about the fact that I’ve never experienced a sexual orgasm. The show was pretty akin to a stand-up routine, which felt very new for me, and because it was so autobiographical I felt pretty exposed, but I learned so much doing it.
5. JM: But you largely backed away from acting. Why was that?
6. CM: Um… I think… I’m an OK actor. I think I can deliver the goods, but… at the end of the day I think I’m stronger as a writer, and more useful as a writer and director than I am as an actor. I enjoy playing myself in a sense, or my personae… I’m not as interested in really getting “into” a character and thinking about things from the inside like that. I also find that I have more anxiety about performing as I get older.
7. JM: Well, I’ve never heard anyone throw mud at your acting. You’re great on stage and carrying shows like The O Show and your most recent one woman show, Meconium/Montreal proved that.
8. CM: Oh, thank you.
9. JM: [The O Show] in particular was a very popular show. People ate it up. I don’t think that there is any doubt that you know what you are doing on stage, but I also think it shows a great deal of… uh… self awareness in a person who can get a sense of where they are best suited and in what direction they should go…and then make that change with confidence. I envy and admire your clarity there.
10. CM: Thanks.
11. JM: So…what is it about writing, specifically that is more attractive to you than any other aspect of theatre arts?
12. CM: I guess in a very basic way, I have things I want to say, things I want to talk about. I’m very interested in creating community… sharing experiences of the world and what it means to be human in it. I’m troubled by a lot what I see, inspired by it, moved by it, confused by it, overwhelmed by it, and feel like I need to talk that stuff out. I like hearing what people have to say about my work and what they take away from it cause that’s what makes it a conversation… I think that theatre at it’s best is transformative. It can transform people.

Fruits Unheard Of

1. JM: And then it was ‘03-’04? Where was Fruits Unheard Of?
2. CM: ‘04?
3. JM: ‘04.
4. CM: I think?
5. JM: Another original script of yours. And a doosey. Opened during the coldest week of the year…ugly cold snap…Arts Project—
6. CM: —Three night run—
7. JM: —An abbreviated three night run after only ah… two weeks of production—
8. CM: —Sorry.
9. JM: (laughing) —where a team of only four people got together and put together a really special show. Certainly one of my favorites that I’ve participated in. I got to share the stage with you which was lovely! The show was called Fruits Unheard Of and focused on the tragic life of Diane Arbus, world famous photographer and observer of the human experience. You had… Niki Kemeny in the background dressing us and the set every night.
10. CM: M-hm.
11. JM: And we had Kaila Jarmain directing us.
12. CM: M-hm.
13. JM: And the show went on to…in other peoples words “sweep” the Brickenden awards that year. So what did we get? I took got Best Supporting…
14. CM: M-Hmm
15. JM: Thank you. Ah…Kaila got Best Direction. You won Best Original Script? And then you walked away with a fourth for…Best Comedy?
16. CM: Best Production.
17. JM: Right! Best Production too!
18. CM: And then Best Comedy for The O Show.
19. JM: That was five?
20. CM: M-hm.
21. JM: That was five! Wow. You did kick pants that season. Say what you will about the awards, it was really nice to have us all up there and to have each of us get to take a way a keepsake that could remind of us of just why that show was so great. I thought that was really special.
22. CM: It was.
23. JM: You played Diane, I played everybody else — how many? Twelve?
24. CM: Thirteen.
25. JM: Ha. Thirteen characters, male and female which was uh… great fun. A circus giant, a freak show curator with a lazy eye, Lee Harvey Oswald’s Mom! It was tough, but really rewarding.
26. CM: It does stand out.

Leaving London

1. JM: (Laughs) So…then…you went on to…
2. CM: I left.
3. JM: Right. You left London and went back…back to Montreal.
4. CM: Yup.
5. JM: Why?
6. CM: Um… I think that I felt that my time in London was done? Um… I’d been here for ten years at that point and only ever come here for university which had wrapped up five years previous. I also felt that I’d probably gone on as far as I could with the theatre stuff and wanted to go out and test whether I actually had what it takes to succeed in different markets. I was worried that I’d get complacent in a place where I had made a bit of a name, created a bit of a reputation… I wanted to test my mettle in a new environment. I worry about coasting on one’s laurels and not constantly re-examining the work.
7. JM: Obviously the name of your production company, Small Pond, is a statement about that phenomenon.
8. CM: Yeah. It’s that fear of being defined too long by a specific context, and allowing yourself to be made a bit lazy by that.

Commission for the Grand

1. JM: Now. In other news, out of the public eye, you’ve got a major project brewing that’s been a focus of yours for years.
2. CM: Yes.
3. JM: The Grand Theatre commissioned you to write a full length script, and… what year was that?
4. CM: Oh, that was like three years ago, so that was… 2006. Late 2005, because I had come back (to London) to do a residency—a playwright residency—at the Grand. Wow. Uh, three years. Let’s say three, but ah… creepin’ up to four.
5. JM: So did they approach you, or did they ask you to write something and then based on what you wrote, they would approve ah… a full commission?
6. CM: They approached me with… I think it was… yeah, “write the first act and then we will go from there” so…I think we just started out with the first act and then it kept kind of getting renewed and more drafts were requested as part of the contract too, so… several drafts were eventually built into the contract.
7. JM: And after every draft, I know that workshopping was part of the process, but was there a workshop after every draft?
8. CM: Uh, yeah I think that every time I wrote something and submitted it there was some kind of workshop with actors and a dramaturge or just me meeting with a dramaturge to talk about it, but there was some kind of meeting to discuss the latest changes.
9. JM: It’s actually a very cool process and I got to take part in one round of workshopping—that one wasn’t public—most of them weren’t—
10. CM: No. There was only two I think that were. Three I guess that were—
11. JM: —Public yeah? All sorts of of people have gotten a chance to play around with it, but the last one—the one that you are in town to participate in this weekend—this one was different in that the Grand brought in a bunch of ringers—
12. CM: —Yes
13. JM: —from Stratford. Specifically. You tell me why. I guess they wanted to put it in the hands of people with a bunch of experience and just see what another group of folks could do with it.
14. CM: Yeah. The last phase was just to give it to some people who hadn’t looked at it before and see what they found in it, because we [the usual team assembled by The Grand Theatre to workshop it] got so used to working with it, that, as the dramaturge said, we developed a “shorthand” with it that other people don’t have; it’s really helpful to find out what new people’s initial reactions are. And they’re all people who have done a lot of workshopping before, so they have really valuable insights into works in progress.
15. JM: I understand the previous round of rewrites was one of the most important because you had to… um transform it most dramatically … well, you wrote out an entire character that time… so after this workshop… knowing that nothing so dramatic was requested, how does it feel to know that a bunch of professionals kicked it around for a day and that it held up? Nobody said… “Start over.”
16. CM: Great! There’s really nothing more satisfying in collaboration than when people can say to each other at the end of the day “thank YOU for what you brought to this” and “no, thank YOU for bringing it.” For me it really means you’re playing together… you’re cooking something up and everyone is benefitting from each other’s contributions. It’s a beautiful thing.
17. JM: So do you finally believe that you are on the cusp of being a professional playwright?
18. CM: No! I do not want to say that because that will jinx me.
19. JM: Fine. Then I will tell you that you are on the cusp of being a professional playwright!
20. CM: (laughs) Um, well… no, I don’t know. From the inside of living your life it’s all very much step by step, day by day. I don’t really think about it that much.

[...]

1. JM: We haven’t mentioned the title of this thing yet.
2. CM: Civil.
3. JM: And what should people know about it? How would you want to describe this project to somebody who is curious about it. Say that…oh, say that I am the Tarragon in Toronto. Why do I want to produce this show?
4. CM: Uh… its about domestic violence in many ways, but it’s also about several characters who are not doing very well at articulating themselves, at understanding themselves, and they are unconsciously using each other because they can’t really deal with themselves—
5. JM: So it’s a comedy in the broadest sense. (laughs)
6. CM: (Laughing) It’s a hilarious comedy. It is quite funny. There is humour. My favorite kind of humour, which comes from human fallibility. Humans trying to do things, and having really good intentions and not reaching the bar and uh… and I find that… funny because there’s just something very, very human about it, and it’s by far my favorite kind of humour.

What’s next

1. JM: [What] is next for the lovely and talented Caitin Murphy?
2. CM: I just finished directing a play called Trout Stanley that opened last week, and is still running right now. I will be starting rehearsals for Age of Arousal, assistant directing with Sarah Stanley at the Centaur Theatre. I’m also working on a commissioned script for Fountainhead Theatre here in London. Right now I’m interested in doing more and more directing… it’s really such a complex and fascinating role to me, and I’d like to throw myself into as many projects as possible in that capacity.