In “Murdoch: The Final Interview,” a media mogul faces his toughest interviewer as he reviews his life

10/14/2025

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This is a theatrical photo featuring an older, bald male actor, likely portraying Rupert Murdoch, standing on a dark stage. He is wearing a white dress shirt and dark trousers and is holding up a large, white square sign to his left. The sign has bold, black, capital letters that read: "ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH". He is pointing at the sign with his right index finger while looking toward the audience with an ambiguous, somewhat knowing or slightly skeptical expression. To his right, there is a tall, vertical blue curtain or screen element, and in the foreground, a dark table is visible. The image is clearly a satirical or pointed moment within the play. 2025 — Jamie Jackson (Photo by Russ Rowland)

This is a dramatic theatrical photo featuring a single actor seated center stage on a small, circular, slightly elevated platform lit with a pale blue light. The actor, an older man who is bald and wearing a dark suit and white shirt, sits facing forward, holding a glass of dark liquid high in a toast or salute. He has an intense expression and is looking directly at the audience. The background consists of a large screen displaying a stunning, dark blue and white nighttime skyline of a major city (likely New York City), viewed from what appears to be a high-rise office window. A small round side table with a bottle and a second glass sits beside his chair. The image conveys a mood of power, solitude, and perhaps a moment of victory or contemplation. — Jamie Jackson (Photo by Russ Rowland)

Rupert Murdoch. The name conjures up a variety of images, many of them unfavorable. There’s the scrappy Australian who parlayed two small newspapers into one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. The friend of presidents, millionaires, and heads of state worldwide. The patriarch of a large, contentious family whose jockeying to claim power even before his death makes news of its own.

Murdoch’s life is the focus of the one-man show Murdoch: The Final Interview, and it’s a gripping ride. The playwright is “an unnamed source” — presumably, to avoid libel and/or slander lawsuits. Regardless of that, the play paints a fascinating picture of the man who, more than anyone else, had a hand in reshaping the media into what we have today.

One actor, Australian Jamie Jackson, portrays all the characters in the show, whether on stage or on the large video screen at the back of the set. Not only does he tackle Murdoch from a young age to the elderly present, he is both Murdoch’s father and mother, various presidents including Reagan and Nixon, Fox News creator Roger Ailes, and a host of others.

He also portrays Murdoch’s interviewer, whose true identity is a question up until the very end of the play, but who hints that he has been present from the start. Jackson is a consummate actor, creating a host of characters using just changes in voice and bearing.

Jackson is guided by the careful direction of Christopher Scott. The set, a bleak monochrome nowhere and anywhere, is the work of Peter R. Feuchtwanger, with emotive lighting by Saunders Harrison-Matthews, sound design by Josh Weidenbaum, and video design by Andy Evan Cohen. SoHee Youn, Jackson’s wife, composed the recorded prelude to the show, an eerie setting of Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” performed by countertenor Sean Patrick Doyle and pianist Isaac Hayward.

Jamie Jackson (Photo by Russ Rowland)

While the play captures and holds the audience from the first scene, it does have some flaws. Early on, it establishes two cliches. First is the neglected child of cold parents, always seeking to be seen. The other is the emotionally stunted adult, holding everyone in contempt, unable and unwilling to make any emotional commitments.

One can also see parallels to Charles Dickens’ Scrooge, someone who discards his ideals as he becomes more successful, rationalizing away his decisions at every step.

Although flawed, this is a play worth seeing, not just for the historical overview of Murdoch’s career but for the amazing solo performance of Jamie Jackson.

This is a highly dramatic and darkly lit theatrical photo featuring an older, bald actor, likely portraying Rupert Murdoch. He is illuminated almost entirely by the warm, intense light of a lantern that he holds raised in his right hand. He is wearing a white dress shirt and dark pants and is seated or crouched, leaning forward with a look of fear, shock, or realization on his face, with his left hand extended as if pushing something away. There appears to be a small amount of dark makeup on his head, resembling blood or dirt. The background is pitch black, with only a hint of a dark shape behind his left shoulder, intensifying the isolation and terror of the moment. — Jamie Jackson (Photo by Russ Rowland)

This is not the show for anyone who is looking for a deep dive into the life and career of Rupert Murdoch. However, as a dramatic offering, I do not think it would be a waste of one’s time. For a decently fascinating look at a modern day media titan, I suggest going to see Murdoch: The Final Interview.

Murdoch: The Final Interview is presented at Theater 555, 555 West 42nd St., in New York, through Dec. 23, 2025. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to murdochthefinalinterview.com.