In Conversation with Richard Murphet | STILL
- TW
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
In this week's Backstage Blog, we talk to Richard Murphet, director of Victorian Theatre Company's upcoming production of STILL - a collection of late works by absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett.
A man alone in a hut, in the valley, on the backroads, somewhere between the town and the outback, between the sky and the dazzling land. Six short, unpredictable episodes on his journey along the blurred boundary between day and night, between living and dying, out of a conscious life into that threshold, alternately terrifying, revelatory, awesome, prior to the final shutdown.
Q: What attracted you to putting this selection of Samuel Beckett works onstage here and now?
A: These short pieces by Beckett are the clearest, most perceptive, most revelatory, most witty, most caring, most humane treatments of the stages of an individual’s mortality that we have read. At a time when the autocrats holding power throughout the world have rendered life dirt cheap and treat death and dehumanisation as statistics to be proud of, it is vital that we share those insights, words and acts that remind us of the beauty and awe to be discovered in even the most marginal of lives in our midst.
Q: What should audiences expect when they come to see Still?
A: A man alone, in a hut, trying to express aspects of his process of dying, never before expressed with such precision – without sentimentality, without gloom, without complex philosophising.
Q: What will surprise people about this work?
A: Its uncluttered purity and simplicity in dealing with such profoundly human material. And the power of a fine performer being stretched to his limits.
Q: What do you hope audiences take away after seeing Still?
A: A re-enchantment in the fragile strength of being human.
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your rehearsal process?
A: Impossible to choose one out of what has been a constantly joyous process. What keeps amazing us is the way in which the six texts, not intended as an integrated sequence, constantly reflect, echo and develop upon one another. They are a true example of the integrity of Beckett’s vision as an artist.
Still plays at Explosives Factory from July 10 - 26.
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