The following is an interview I did in 2011 when Brian Murray and Sam Waterston were starring in the American premiere of Simon Gray's "The Old Masters" at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven. Director Michael Rudman also joined in the conversation. It was a privilege to talk with these three masters of the theater.  According to his Facebook posts, Murray has passed on.. He was 80.

By FRANK RIZZO

What makes an old master?

The title of the play "The Old Masters," which begins performances Wednesday at New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre, resonates with many meanings.

The playwright, the late Simon Gray, was one of the theatrical masters of his generation, both in his native England and in the United States, where several of his plays were presented at Long Wharf Theatre, including "The Common Pursuit," "Molly" and "Quartermaine's Terms."

The director of "The Old Masters," Michael Rudman, 71, is an esteemed theater hand who guided many noteworthy Broadway productions, including "Death of a Salesman" with Dustin Hoffman in 1984, "Hamlet" with Sam Waterston in 1975, and the landmark production of "The Changing Room" at Long Wharf Theatre, which later transferred to Broadway, in 1973.

Gray's "Old Masters," set in 1937 just outside Florence, Italy, revolves around two aging friends — famous art historian Bernard Berenson and notorious art dealer Joseph Duveen — who are battling over the provenance of an Old Master painting.

Playing Berenson is Waterston, 70, an Oscar-, Tony- and three-time Emmy Award nominee (for "Law & Order"). Waterston, who lives in northwestern Connecticut, has been a familiar face at Long Wharf in recent years, starring in Athol Fugard's "Have You Seen Us?" and Tom Stoppard's "Travesties."

Playing Duveen is Theater Hall of Fame inductee and three-time Tony Award nominee Brian Murray, 73 ("The Crucible," "The Little Foxes" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead").

Rudman, Waterston and Murray sat down after a recent rehearsal to discuss the play, their relationships and their profession:

Waterston: Brian and I first met in 1964.

|CONTINUED}