A virtuosic study of one man’s descent into religious mania in small-town Ireland.
Inishfree might seem like a quaint Irish town, but fierce evangelist Thomas Magill knows better. He knows that jovial Dwain Flynn is a miserable drunk, that Timmy O’Leary enslaves his lovely mother, and that sweet Mrs Cleary is a blasphemous flirt.
It is down to Thomas, with God on his shoulder, to save this sinful place. But the townsfolk are not listening, an angel is misbehaving and a barking dog will not be silenced. Just how far will Thomas go in his quest for salvation?
Enda Walsh’s Misterman was first performed by the author in a Corcadorca Theatre Company production at the Granary Theatre in Cork in April 1999, directed by Pat Kiernan.
A revised version was produced by Landmark Productions and Galway Arts Festival, and performed at the Black Box Theatre, Galway, as part of the Galway Arts Festival, in July 2011.
This edition of the revised play was published alongside the production at the National Theatre, London, in 2012, directed by the playwright, starring Cillian Murphy.
‘A fantastic, whirring monologue of small town life and flickering faith… a ninety-minute rollercoaster, kaleidoscopic in mood and construction, a perfectly realised stage poem’
— Whatsonstage.com
‘A terrific study of religious mania, loneliness and longing. It really rocks’
— Arts Desk
