What are the Odds? Premiere, 1 April 2011, Jute Theatre, Cairns.
Angela Murphy’s new play is a triumph not to be missed. It is a comedy with underlying elements of pathos. Ian Lawson’s direction is almost flawless. This play delivers audience satisfaction in spades. The opening night crowd was thoroughly engaged from start to finish. Glyn Davies for Arts Nexus, April 3rd, 2011
“It is genuinely one of the company’s funniest productions ever. The laughs were a lot sweeter, despite packing a much stronger emotional punch than I expected. A quintessentially North Queensland and hilariously funny tale of friendship, sisterhood, heartbreak & redemption. Everyone from 16 to 65 was in the house and I think it surprised a few of the blokes in the audience who, at the start, looked like they had been begrudgingly dragged along by their better halves but by the end, had sore bellies with laughter.” Reviewer Jesse Kuch for The Cairns Post, 8 April, 2011
“Fantastic performance by very talented women. Funny. Witty. Enlightening. Very lively. True to life.” Audience exit survey comments
“Fantastic play. A definite MUST SEE! Great night’s entertainment” Twitter, Tim Grau President Arts Nexus Board, 4 April 2011
Tropical Writers Festival Committee 2010
Angela Murphy was a one of the driving forces on the 2010 Tropical Writers Festival Committee. She brought energy, motivation and inspiration to the festival. Building on her 2008 Tropical Writers Festival input, Angela was familiar with the its philosophy and regional context. Along with her input into planning, Angela coordinated and presented one of the major free arena events, the Biggest Book Club. With enormous drive she worked with ABC Radio’s Fiona Sewell to promote the event on radio and gain public involvement in the concept. She was rewarded by a large and appreciative audience and a very successful event. I look forward very much to working with Angela again. Oonagh Prettejohn, Project Manager
Tropical Writers Festival, Cairns 2011
Survival Instincts Premiere, 4 February 2009, Seymour Centre, Sydney
Congratulations to Survival Instincts which came out on top of the People’s Choice vote for the week.
Alex Broun, Festival Director Short + Sweet Sydney, 9 Feb 2009
Miss Black faces the reality of teaching high school students and finds that everyone has different ways of surviving. Angela Murphy’s play Survival Instincts intricately depicted the characters of the teacher, student and parent.
Review by Benita de Wit
Short & Sweet, Seymour Centre Sydney 4 Feb, 2009
The Boathouse Premiere 24 March 2006, JUTE Theatre, CoCA Cairns
Last words on the playwright. Angela Murphy has a style reminiscent of David Williamson’s – with a similar range of middle-class characters whose conflicts arise out of a clash of old and new values. Like Williamson, she makes occasional use of poetic dialogue to lift the play out of the mundane; like him, she uses witty one-liners to relieve tension and create a comic undertone to a serious topic; like him, she strips away her characters’ pretensions, leaving them as emotionally and socially stranded misfits. It’s a sure-fire success formula and Angela Murphy has surely mastered it. We eagerly await her next play.
Review by Glyn Davies for Arts Nexus
24 March 2006, CoCA Cairns
Feature Writing
I have had the pleasure of publishing Angela Murphy’s work for the past three years. Her well researched articles are peppered with purple prose, witty one liners and perceptive observations, evoking a strong mental image of the subject matter. As editor it has been a delight handling Angela’s work. I only wish I had a dozen contributors of her calibre.
Tony Hillier
Editor, The Fly Entertainment Press February 2005