Bringing History to Life – Playwright Martin Murphy on The Ghost of White Hart Lane

Writer Martin Murphy is a life-long Spurs fan. When he was commissioned to write a play about a Spurs legend he had grown up hearing about, it was a dream come true. Two of his favourite worlds, Football and Theatre, coming together in one project that he has great passion for. Hinton catches up with Martin to chat about John White, John’s son Rob White (who commissioned the play) and what it’s like to explore human stories.

When did you first hear about John White’s Story?

My Mum’s Granddad moved down from Scotland to North London in 1918 after serving in the first world war. Woolwich Arsenal had just made a financial migration to North London but luckily my great granddad made the right call and started going to football matches at Spurs. He took my Granddad to games who in turn took my mum and uncles to ‘The Lane’ once they were born, so Tottenham history was my equivalent of bed time stories at night. For that reason, John White’s story has always been part of my consciousness, like Red Riding Hood but in Spurs colours. 

Do we need to know anything about football to understand the play?

Absolutely not, the fact that John White was a footballer is a part of his life story, but the play is about what it is to be human. The story is about a boy growing up without a dad, which if we’ve experienced personally or not is something we can all empathise with. It’s a funny play, something that was very important to me when writing the show, as so many real-life accounts of John White mention his cheeky sense of humour. So if the show didn’t have a number of laughs I wouldn’t be doing justice to him.

The show touches on moments of grief and discussions about mental health, how do you approach these topics when they are other people’s experiences?

This is a very sensitive and important subject area for me, my approach was to demonstrate but not exploit these aspects. Both John & Rob White experienced grief which is a hugely personal trauma but one which all of us will encounter in our own lives to some extent so can empathise with. 

In terms of mental health issues, particularly John’s, I wanted to demonstrate what he was going through in a way a modern audience could understand, so that we can appreciate the steps we’ve made in terms of recognising symptoms and providing support, particularly in worlds where this was often considered weakness like the world of sport and in men in general. 

What moments from both men’s lives did you know from the start had to be in the play and why?

John White having his trousers stolen as a prank by a team-mate, on the day he died, so having to travel home in his pants was a moment I knew had to be in there.

I won’t give a spoiler but there is also a huge revelation about Rob’s family which comes as a big surprise in Rob’s book about discovering his dad, I knew that would be pivotal to his character’s journey in the play so had to make sure that was included.

I also knew that journey wise the play wouldn’t work structurally if I told the lives in a completely linear style. If people know one thing about John White it’ll probably be that he was killed by lightning, so like the Titanic crashing you can’t have that as an ending and think you’ll surprise an audience, nor ignore it since it’s still significant.

What legacy would you like to leave the world?

The Ghost of White Hart Lane is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama as are two of my other plays, this is important to me as it means future generations can reprise those works. Theatre is such a transient beast, meaning however good a piece of work is, once it’s not on stage it’s gone. This is what’s so beautiful about theatre but also hard as for most of us writers you can’t have work on all the time so I guess my plays are the legacy I will leave. Most importantly the dark humour I make sure runs through all my work. I’d like to leave the world a type of joke which anyone who heard it would say “That’s a Martin Murphy line”

The Ghost of White Hart Lane will be performed at 1.25pm in Underbelly Bristo Square (Dairy Room) from 31st July – 26th August (Not 12th)

Booking Link: https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/event/the-ghost-of-white-hart-lane