History took place in the Abbey Theatre as the Tom Murphy season drew to a close. With the reading of his play, Famine, it was time to applaud the production of his six plays in two weeks.
"The transformative power of theatre . . . has never seemed more vital or necessary," said Ben Barnes, artistic director of the national theatre. The plays of Murphy are "hammered gold . . . which bear the true stigmata of greatness". Then he presented the playwright with a leather-bound volume of the six plays.
The audience rose as Murphy came up to receive the gift. He thanked everybody involved, including his partner Jane Brennan, warning those who had taken bets their relationship would never withstand the strain of the pair working together in the intense cauldron of his play, Bailegangaire "had better pay up because here we are".
He dedicated the season to his former wife, Mary Hippisley, who was also present. "I couldn't have written those plays without her support, her belief, her affirmation, her care and the wide world that she opened to me."
Hippisley was there with her twin brother, Johnny Hippisley. She and Murphy met in 1961, married in 1966 and were together for more than 20 years. Their son, the youngest of three children, Johnny Murphy, a tennis coach, was also there to celebrate the occasion.
Among those singled out for special thanks by Barnes were Eithne Healy, Abbey board member and Una Carmody, season producer.
There was nothing more to say. "I am so proud of the honour that our national theatre has conferred on me. That these great artists have been involved in works that I wrote I think that all I can do is die," said Murphy. "Thank you."