Press response to plays I've written

(YELLOW IS) THE COLOUR OF SUNSHINE

Fun for all, but also emotionally enabling for its very young target audience.
THE REVIEW HUB *****
A Lesson in how accessibility can be embedded in the creative process.
THE GUARDIAN
Simple and heart-warming
SOUTH LEEDS LIFE
Seamlessly fuses music, movement, sign language and the spoken word.
THE STAGE

SEEING THE LIGHTS

Well-observed comedy…Murray is emerging as one of the country’s most compassionate dramatists.
THE GUARDIAN ****. Read the full review here.
Emotionally engaging… witty… astute… sharp dialogue.
THE OBSERVER **** Read the full review here.
A play with burning relevance for our times – and a surprising number of laughs.
THE STAGE

MONDAY'S CHILD

Beautiful, uplifting and very, very tender.
THE INDEPENDENT ****
An exquisite exploration of friendship, play and memory across the generations.
WHAT'S ON STAGE *****
Unforgettable. It makes everyday circumstances alive and vital and very personal.
THE STAGE
Pure magic.
KILKENNY REPORTER
Links to all the reviews can be found here.

MISSING IN ACTION

Powerful… Emotional… Gritty, hard-hitting drama… Compelling viewing.
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE. Full review here.
Thought-provoking… Explores one of modern society’s great taboos.
THE STAGE. Full review here.

ENTERTAINING ANGELS

Authentic… A meticulously researched and insightful play. I hope it gets a very wide hearing.
THE STAGE. Full review here.
A fantastic piece of theatre… engaging, amusing, enlightening & interesting.
LEFTLION MAGAZINE
Extraordinarily perceptive… Honest and devastatingly accurate… A tender, affectionate and utimately hopeful, as well as sometimes angry, play.
THE CHURCH TIMES

HARE & TORTOISE

An intimate, enchanting and colourful work that will truly delight children over 3 and big kids like myself. The dialogue is playful, meaningful and strikes just the right balance for the young audience.
THE PUBLIC REVIEWS
Young audiences deserve the very best and here they get it.
THE STAGE
**** WHATSONSTAGE.COM
A beautifully crafted piece.
LYN GARDNER, THE GUARDIAN

THE DELICIOUS REVENGE OF PRINCESS RUBYSLIPPERS

A thoughtful play, which neither patronises nor intellectualises.
THE STAGE
A charming adventure into the imaginative world of children.
OXFORD TIMES
Witty, deft and perceptive.
REVIEWS GATE

HOW HIGH IS UP?

Suffused with poetry, wit, and a wonderful wisdom.
IRISH TIMES
Comforting and profound, the language beautiful.
TIME OUT
Themes of death, memory and change are handled with sensitive clarity and wit in Murray's beautifully written script.
DUBLIN SUNDAY TRIBUNE

THE FALLING SKY

Tender and ultimately shocking, the conflicts are subtle and the characters, never mere mouthpieces, all have the ring of truth about them.
THE STAGE 
A play that captures the essence of rural life as it is lived today. These country folk are a million miles away from the stereotypes found in The Archers, and the story is anything but every-day.
OXFORD TIMES

THE BIG MAGIC

An exquisitely surreal experience.
TIME OUT
If proof were needed of what a jewel Polka Theatre is then it can be found in Brendan Murray's The Big Magic.
THE STAGE
Asks big questions that apply to a child's everyday life and the future of the world.
REVIEWS GATE

BIG BABY

Imaginative and often surreal.
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
A deeply polemical play containing some of the blackest comedy you will ever see.
OXFORD TIMES
A bewitching mixture of parable, dumb-show and song-and-dance, taking on half a dozen huge ideas. *****
THE TIMES
Disturbingly compelling...unflinchingly honest.
GLASGOW HERALD
A grand metaphor about modernity, industrialisation and capitalism...chillingly forceful and poetic.
THE SCOTSMAN

UNDER THE BED

This quirky show, with its tangential departures into lunacy, has a sweet and sensible resolution with a disarming feel-good factor.
TIME OUT
A fresh, nicely-pitched show that deals quite subtly with children's fears large and small.
FINANCIAL TIMES

MANSFIELD PARK & RIDE

Brendan Murray doesn't miss a trick.
THE STAGE ONLINE
A wittily elegant piece showing great appreciation for the language of Austen: a real Christmas cracker.
EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES


Press response to plays I've directed

DIAL M FOR MURDER

Director Brendan Murray's wonderful production, deliciously dark, beautifully staged and absorbingly performed.
NORTH NORFOLK NEWS

UP DOWN MAN

Funny, informative, quirky and very moving.
STAGE TALK MAGAZINE *****
A show packed with love, hope and laughter...
WESTON, WORLE & SOMERSET MERCURY
Laugh-out-loud funny and heart-warming. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house, and yet everyone left smiling! A must-see.
SALISBURY JOURNAL
A perfect example of every element of a production working in harmony.
EXEUNT
Quite simply, one of the most beautiful, uplifting, moving and joyful pieces of theatre I have ever seen.
WESTERN-SUPER-MUM
The power of this show cannot be overstated...
BROADWAYWORLD *****

THE NUTCRACKER & THE MOUSE KING by Jane Buckler

The tale is told with real sensitivity: ideal for all generations.
OXFORD TIMES
Full of atmosphere and mystery.
BBC RADIO OXFORD
Complex and striking in its visual staging.
REVIEWS GATE

THE FIREBIRD by Jane Buckler

An imaginative staging which moves the plot along while sharing the hopes, fears and dreams of the characters.
OXFORD TIMES
A timeless story brought to new audiences with the subtlety and care for details it deserves.
THE STAGE

UNDER MILK WOOD by Dylan Thomas

Pure gold.
OXFORD TIMES
Surreal and evocative...not to be missed.
OXFORD DAILY INFO
A heart-warming treat.
THE STAGE

THE DELICIOUS REVENGE OF PRINCESS RUBYSLIPPERS

The audience who ranged from babes-in-arms to senior citizens, all seemed entranced.
OXFORD TIMES

PEOPLE ARE LIVING THERE by Athol Fugard

A knock-out.
OXFORD TIMES

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' – THE FATS WALLER MUSICAL SHOW

The comical numbers sparkle with razor-sharp rhymes and slapstick choreography. Impeccably sung in five-part harmony.
THE STAGE
This bold new production is a polished and exciting show that will delight all who come out to see it.
OXFORD TIMES