Stephen Murphy's spoken-word piece The Language of the Birds, commissioned for RTÉ's Illuminations project, explores the complex shades of lockdown, and describes his 'attempt to work through the darkness of my own isolation and, in doing so, hopefully to bring others back into the light of the natural world around us'. Watch and listen above...
Stephen Murphy on The Language of the Birds
"In January of 2020 I became seriously ill and spent over two months in hospital. Almost all of that time was spent in solitary confinement and yet the only thing I had the energy to write were the first eight lines of what would later become this piece. I wanted to develop something around the themes of confinement and isolation that came from being alone for so long and I felt like this project was the right time to do so.
The Language of the Birds is an attempt to work through the darkness of my own isolation and, in doing so, hopefully to bring others back into the light of the natural world around us."
Enjoy more from Illuminations here.
