Brothers of the Brush was first produced by the Abbey Theatre as part of the Peacock New Play Series 93. It won the Dublin Theatre Festival ‘Best New Play’ award and the Stewart Parker Award.
This production at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre was the British Premiere.
Brothers of the Brush tells how housepainters, patching over the cracks of an old house, misuse each other for their own advantage. In a world blighted by economic recession, with workers losing faith in old ideologies, Brothers of the Brush demonstrates just how fragile allegiances are when personal interests are at stake.
Jimmy Murphy's plays for the Abbey Theatre include Brothers of the Brush, 1993 (winner of the Dublin Festival Best new play award.) A Picture of Paradise 1997, and The Muesli Belt, 2000 Other works include Aceldama, 1998, The Kings of the Kilburn High Road, 2000 (2001 Tricycle Theatre, London) The Castlecomer Jukebox,(2004) for Red Kettle and What's left of the Flag, 2010 Theatre Upstairs @ The Plough, (nominated for Best New Play, 2010 Irish Theatre awards.) In 2008 an Irish language feature film version of The Kings of the Kilburn High Road; Kings, was Ireland’s official entry into the Best foreign language Oscars category and a subsequent postage stamp was issued in its honour. He is former writer in residence at NUI, Maynooth, a member of the Abbey Theatre’s Advisory Council and a recipient of three Bursaries in literature from the Arts Council/An ChomhairleEalaíon. In 2004 he was elected a member of Aosdána, the affiliation of Irish artists. In September 2011 Focus Theatre will premiere his new play The Hen Night Epiphany
CAST INCLUDED: Sean Gallagher, Tony Booth, Michael Brophy, Louis Dempsey.
‘Irish housepainter-turned-playwright Jimmy Murphy lends a stroke of truth to his debut, "Brothers of the Brush." Based on his own working man's experience, "Brothers" is a smart, nicely turned play that stays a step ahead of its audience.’
Variety
‘In “Brothers of the Brush,” the political left and capitalist right prove to be two halves of the same parasitic coin. One which offers either a rock or a hard place from which to try and survive, with people like Lar being damned if they do and damned if they don’t. For Heno and Martin are but mirror images, lusting after power at the expense of those around them. Offering hints of Three Stooges funny alongside Marxist level smarts, “Brothers of the Brush” does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a deeply moving, hilariously funny, irresistibly powerful experience.’
The Arts Desk