Magic and madness in Fíbín’s Tóraíocht

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

It’s a massive story with bonkers elements in it,” says actor and director Mikel Murfi of Tóraíocht”, which he’s directing for Connemara company, Fíbín.

Philip Doherty’s adaptation of the Irish legend, The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, will run in the Black Box Theatre from November 10-13 and at present, six actors – four women and two men – are rehearsing in Inverin, creating some 30 characters in a process that involves “putting heads on fellas and putting people in and out of suits”, says Mikel with a laugh.

If anyone can create a finished product from such mayhem, it’s this multi-talented actor and director. Mikel’s previous directing credits locally include Diamonds in the Soil and The Lost Days of Ollie Deasy for Macnas as well as Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce and Penelope for Druid Theatre. He also appeared in another Enda Walsh hit, Ballyturk, alongside Cillian Murphy and Stephen Rea for Galway International Arts Festival.

Mikel studied the book, Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne for his Leaving Cert in Sligo where, he recalls, his class had a great teacher called Mannix O’Brien.

“He was always adding stuff and making the story come alive. And I always wanted to go back to it.”

That opportunity arose a couple of years ago when Fíbín invited Mikel to work with them. He suggested a new version of the Irish legend in which Fionn MacCumhaill’s intended bride, Gráinne, put the Fianna’s finest warrior, Diarmuid, under a ‘geas’ or pledge to run away with her instead. A cross-country chase ensued, with the Fianna pursuing the pair until their final capture in Sligo’s Ben Bulben.

The original story is episodic by nature, says Mikel, “so we had to work through that and create real-life drama for them”.

He initiated the adaptation by “writing a “bit of a speech for a lunatic character that I’d created, a vitriolic person who curses people all the time”.

The result was a three-page spiel, “a litany of bad things” which he gave to playwright Philip Doherty.

“I said that was the kind of madness I wanted and asked Philip if he could fit it all together,” says Mikel who wanted to keep the episodic nature of the legend and to build drama around that. It was important to have dynamic characters and lots of action for people who don’t have Irish, he adds.

Philip is director of the Cavan-based Gonzo Theatre company and the two men had met 10 years ago when Philip was studying for an MA in Drama and Theatre Studies at NUIG.

Mikel, who lectures on that course, admired his writing style and subsequently saw Philip’s work with Gonzo. So, it seemed logical to ask Philip to script Tóraíocht.

“It’s like some fella had put me inside his head,” says Mikel with a laugh. “And he’s done a remarkable job.”

The play moves between the poetic, the mad and comedic as it captures the madcap journey of Diarmuid and Gráinne around Ireland in their attempt to stay ahead of Fionn MacCumhaill and the Fianna, says its director.

Philip wrote it in English and the script was translated by Séamus Ó Coileáin.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.