[5][6] The play tells the story in three acts of the climactic confrontation between Michael, the oldest of the Carney sons, and his father and brothers, a brawling, hard-drinking, criminal gang of Irish immigrants living and working in Coventry.

A powerful portrayal of tribal violence and the devastation it brings in its wake in spite of attempts to stand against it, it remains Murphy's best known and most performed play.

Thompson would go on to work extensively with TCT, designing sets for Marion Bridge (2007), Festen (2008), Through the Leaves (2010), The Test (2011), and Speaking in Tongues (2012/13).

[10] A Whistle in the Dark was named "Best of 2005" in multiple Canadian newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, National Post, Now Magazine, and eye weekly.

The show played at LSPU Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland in March and at Toronto's Young Centre for the Performing Arts in April of that year.