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| A Scandal-Scalded Murdoch as a Song-and-Dance Man | A Scandal-Scalded Murdoch as a Song-and-Dance Man |
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| It has been an eventful couple of years for Rupert Murdoch. In Britain, evidence that reporters at several of his newspapers routinely hacked into private cellphones as they pursued hot stories led to the demise of News of the World, one of his mightiest tabloids, and incited an official government inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. | It has been an eventful couple of years for Rupert Murdoch. In Britain, evidence that reporters at several of his newspapers routinely hacked into private cellphones as they pursued hot stories led to the demise of News of the World, one of his mightiest tabloids, and incited an official government inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. |
| Last June, Mr. Murdoch announced that he was divorcing his third wife, Wendi Deng, whom he married in 1999. And now, with Australia in the midst of a federal election campaign, Mr. Murdoch, a harsh critic of the incumbent Labor Party and the owner of 70 percent of the country’s newspapers, is once again the topic of the day in his native land. | Last June, Mr. Murdoch announced that he was divorcing his third wife, Wendi Deng, whom he married in 1999. And now, with Australia in the midst of a federal election campaign, Mr. Murdoch, a harsh critic of the incumbent Labor Party and the owner of 70 percent of the country’s newspapers, is once again the topic of the day in his native land. |
| The dramatists have taken note. Richard Bean, the author of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” is writing a play on the phone-hacking scandal for the National Theater in London at the invitation of its artistic director, Nicholas Hytner. Closer to home, the Melbourne Theater Company has just staged the premiere of “Rupert,” a cabaret-style dramatization of Mr. Murdoch’s life by one of Australia’s best-known playwrights, David Williamson. | The dramatists have taken note. Richard Bean, the author of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” is writing a play on the phone-hacking scandal for the National Theater in London at the invitation of its artistic director, Nicholas Hytner. Closer to home, the Melbourne Theater Company has just staged the premiere of “Rupert,” a cabaret-style dramatization of Mr. Murdoch’s life by one of Australia’s best-known playwrights, David Williamson. |
| The play, which opened on Thursday at the Arts Center in Melbourne, uses two actors to play Murdoch. Guy Edmonds is the young Rupert. Sean O’Shea, appearing as Mr. Murdoch’s 82-year-old self, also offers commentary and direction as the action unfolds — very quickly to accommodate a career spanning more than six decades. | The play, which opened on Thursday at the Arts Center in Melbourne, uses two actors to play Murdoch. Guy Edmonds is the young Rupert. Sean O’Shea, appearing as Mr. Murdoch’s 82-year-old self, also offers commentary and direction as the action unfolds — very quickly to accommodate a career spanning more than six decades. |
| Mr. Williamson, whose fiddling with the text and constant updating took him through 50 revisions, starts with Mr. Murdoch as the young heir to a failing Australian newspaper and follows him as he parlays success in Australia to tabloid triumphs in Britain, the purchase of The Times of London, and inroads into the United States. | Mr. Williamson, whose fiddling with the text and constant updating took him through 50 revisions, starts with Mr. Murdoch as the young heir to a failing Australian newspaper and follows him as he parlays success in Australia to tabloid triumphs in Britain, the purchase of The Times of London, and inroads into the United States. |
| Little is left out, not even the shaving-cream pie that a comedian heaved at Mr. Murdoch when he appeared to testify before a parliamentary committee looking into the hacking scandal. | Little is left out, not even the shaving-cream pie that a comedian heaved at Mr. Murdoch when he appeared to testify before a parliamentary committee looking into the hacking scandal. |
| The six other members of the ensemble cast take on multiple roles to populate an often crowded canvas. | The six other members of the ensemble cast take on multiple roles to populate an often crowded canvas. |
| The reviews have been good, although critics hoping to see Mr. Murdoch’s head served on a platter came away disappointed. | The reviews have been good, although critics hoping to see Mr. Murdoch’s head served on a platter came away disappointed. |
| The Age, Melbourne’s non-Murdoch daily, praised Mr. O’Shea’s portrayal of Mr. Murdoch as “a roguish larrikin” (Australian slang for a hooligan or rowdy) with a “hint of menace beneath the charisma,” while complaining that Mr. Williamson pulled too many punches. | The Age, Melbourne’s non-Murdoch daily, praised Mr. O’Shea’s portrayal of Mr. Murdoch as “a roguish larrikin” (Australian slang for a hooligan or rowdy) with a “hint of menace beneath the charisma,” while complaining that Mr. Williamson pulled too many punches. |
| It was an open question how the Murdoch-owned papers would handle the subject. The Australian, a national daily owned by Mr. Murdoch, gave a more than respectful account of the play. Its reviewer complained that Mr. Williamson had tried to cram too many events into one evening’s entertainment, but called the first act “light and delightfully funny.” Lee Lewis, the director, he wrote, “sets a cracking pace, and her cast doesn’t miss a beat.” | It was an open question how the Murdoch-owned papers would handle the subject. The Australian, a national daily owned by Mr. Murdoch, gave a more than respectful account of the play. Its reviewer complained that Mr. Williamson had tried to cram too many events into one evening’s entertainment, but called the first act “light and delightfully funny.” Lee Lewis, the director, he wrote, “sets a cracking pace, and her cast doesn’t miss a beat.” |
| The hands-off approach to Mr. Murdoch was deliberate, Mr. Williamson said, part and parcel of his decision to depart from his more familiar naturalistic style and use the cabaret format. | The hands-off approach to Mr. Murdoch was deliberate, Mr. Williamson said, part and parcel of his decision to depart from his more familiar naturalistic style and use the cabaret format. |
| The Murdoch character “invites the audience to see his real story,” not the story from what a Murdoch paper might call “effete caffe-latte-sipping inner-city left-liberal elites,” Mr. Williamson said. “He casts his own show so that the younger version of himself is considerably more handsome and dynamic than he was, but, as he tells his audience, this is his show, so he can do what he likes.” | The Murdoch character “invites the audience to see his real story,” not the story from what a Murdoch paper might call “effete caffe-latte-sipping inner-city left-liberal elites,” Mr. Williamson said. “He casts his own show so that the younger version of himself is considerably more handsome and dynamic than he was, but, as he tells his audience, this is his show, so he can do what he likes.” |
| Mr. Williamson is probably better known to American audiences as a screenwriter. He wrote the film version of his play “Don’s Party,” directed by Bruce Beresford, and the screenplays for “Gallipoli” and “The Year of Living Dangerously,” both directed by Peter Weir. | Mr. Williamson is probably better known to American audiences as a screenwriter. He wrote the film version of his play “Don’s Party,” directed by Bruce Beresford, and the screenplays for “Gallipoli” and “The Year of Living Dangerously,” both directed by Peter Weir. |
| In Australia, where he first rose to prominence in the early 1970s, he is best known for satirical plays like “The Removalists,” “The Perfectionist” and Brilliant Lies,” which he has turned out at the rate of nearly one a year. | In Australia, where he first rose to prominence in the early 1970s, he is best known for satirical plays like “The Removalists,” “The Perfectionist” and Brilliant Lies,” which he has turned out at the rate of nearly one a year. |
| Brett Sheehy, the artistic director of the Melbourne Theater Company, approached Mr. Williamson a year and a half ago to write a play. “I told him I’d love him to consider something which was a bit different from his usual work — something which was thematically very global,” Mr. Sheehy said. “I asked him where was the heat and passion in discussions with his friends, at dinner parties, barbecues, get-togethers? He said: ‘Oh God, that’s easy. The power relationship between the media and politics. The News of the World troubles. The Leveson Inquiry.’ ” | Brett Sheehy, the artistic director of the Melbourne Theater Company, approached Mr. Williamson a year and a half ago to write a play. “I told him I’d love him to consider something which was a bit different from his usual work — something which was thematically very global,” Mr. Sheehy said. “I asked him where was the heat and passion in discussions with his friends, at dinner parties, barbecues, get-togethers? He said: ‘Oh God, that’s easy. The power relationship between the media and politics. The News of the World troubles. The Leveson Inquiry.’ ” |
| Mr. Sheehy suggested that he take that as his subject, and splash it on a big canvas. | Mr. Sheehy suggested that he take that as his subject, and splash it on a big canvas. |
| “Rupert immediately sprang to mind as a subject,” Mr. Williamson said. “He is the most powerful Australian or ex- Australian ever to have lived.” | “Rupert immediately sprang to mind as a subject,” Mr. Williamson said. “He is the most powerful Australian or ex- Australian ever to have lived.” |
| A dramatic precursor immediately presented itself: Richard III. “Both men, through a combination of boldness, ruthlessness, charm and steely ambition rose to rule their realms,” Mr. Williamson said. “Richard gets his comeuppance on Bosworth Field, but what’s remarkable about Rupert is that he never does. The other difference, I guess, is that Richard killed many to get to the top. Rupert just fires anyone who doesn’t toe the ideological line.” | A dramatic precursor immediately presented itself: Richard III. “Both men, through a combination of boldness, ruthlessness, charm and steely ambition rose to rule their realms,” Mr. Williamson said. “Richard gets his comeuppance on Bosworth Field, but what’s remarkable about Rupert is that he never does. The other difference, I guess, is that Richard killed many to get to the top. Rupert just fires anyone who doesn’t toe the ideological line.” |
| As a dramatic figure, Mr. Murdoch has already made his debut on the stage, as the thinly disguised press baron Lambert Le Roux in “Pravda,” David Hare and Howard Brenton’s 1985 satire about the British newspaper industry. Anthony Hopkins took the role. | As a dramatic figure, Mr. Murdoch has already made his debut on the stage, as the thinly disguised press baron Lambert Le Roux in “Pravda,” David Hare and Howard Brenton’s 1985 satire about the British newspaper industry. Anthony Hopkins took the role. |
| In “Selling Hitler,” a 1991 British television mini-series about the Hitler diaries hoax, Barry Humphries acted the part of Mr. Murdoch, whose newspaper The Sunday Times (in London) ran excerpts from the fake diaries. | In “Selling Hitler,” a 1991 British television mini-series about the Hitler diaries hoax, Barry Humphries acted the part of Mr. Murdoch, whose newspaper The Sunday Times (in London) ran excerpts from the fake diaries. |
| In an interview with The Age, Mr. Bean described his play in progress as “funny but grotesque,” and, in an adjectival pileup, a “state of the nation, press, politics and police in bed with each other” play. | In an interview with The Age, Mr. Bean described his play in progress as “funny but grotesque,” and, in an adjectival pileup, a “state of the nation, press, politics and police in bed with each other” play. |
| Mr. Murdoch was invited to “Rupert,” but has not responded. A theater spokeswoman said that members of his extended family were expected. The play is to come to Washington in March for five performances at the International Theater Festival. | Mr. Murdoch was invited to “Rupert,” but has not responded. A theater spokeswoman said that members of his extended family were expected. The play is to come to Washington in March for five performances at the International Theater Festival. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: September 5, 2013 | |
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a picture caption with this article misstated the setting of the scene in “Rupert” where a shaving-cream pie is thrown at Rupert Murdoch. It is during a family argument, not when Mr. Murdoch arrives to testify before a parliamentary panel. |