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Opined March 1, 2006
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - By Martin McDonagh; directed by Wilson Milam;
WITH: Domhnall Gleeson (Davey), Peter Gerety (Donny), David Wilmot (Padraic), Jeff Binder (James), Kerry Condon (Mairead), Andrew Connolly
(Christy), Dashiell Eaves (Joey) and Brian D'Arcy James (Brendan).
Sets by Scott Pask; Costumes by Theresa Squire; Lighting by Michael Chybowski (Beard of Avon);
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company, Neil Pepe, artistic director; Andrew D. Hamingson, managing director. At 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea,
(212) 239-6200. Through April 9. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes.
Moving To Broadway May 3, 2006.
No. Wrong. No, no, no, thank you no. I opened up the paper the other day to find a full page ad for this show’s move to Broadway. Puhl-leeze. Let me save
you some money, my little chickadees.
There are no less than six disclaimers in the lobby warning people that this show has gunshots and that no animals have been harmed in any way. Nifty. As part
of our pre-show get together, we ushers were told by the House Manager that this show has violence that is so over the top that it is a show against violence. Like
Ridley Scott who said that Kingdom of Heaven – a movie about THE Crusades (2005) was an anti war film.
I get the message. Violence = anti violence. Violence as sort of a lazy writer’s way out of a corner. Issues don’t get resolved. They don’t even get unresolved.
They’re just used as an excuse to shoot a gun and spatter blood all around, even on the audience if you're sitting close enough.
This show begins with the discovery of a dead cat, owned by the psychotic Padraic, who is so violent that even the IRA wants nothing to do with him. When he
discovers his cat is dead, he will, of course, want revenge – even though it would mean killing is own father. But what is family compared with the love of a cat.
Actually I can deal with that – it’s just the “if it’s Tuesday I should blow your head off” theme that sort of gets in my way, not to mention my sight line.
Following the cat’s demise, we meet a sixteen year old girl who is expert in shooting out the eyes of cows at 50 paces. Wonder what she will be good for later,
hmmmnnnn? We watch our lieutenant, in the last staged of torturing a man, who is bloody and hanging upside down, suddenly interrupt his torture to conduct a
conversation about his cat’s health. We witness the inner workings of a three-man gang, hot on the heels of our Lieutenant, as they swing pistols like small sand
bags round and round at each other and often at us. Then there’s the Dad and his chum back home trying to figure out a way to cover up a feline death by
stealing another car who will, you guessed it, meet the same fate and prompt another murder as retaliation.
Intermingled with all the gun swinging, death and blood is some quite OK dialogue which keeps your ear tuned and your interest piqued. It’s sort of a do-si-do.
Blood-story-decapitation-story -character-story-murder-. And back round again. When the play concludes with the appearance of the cat thought dead, the
remaining two characters reflect on what a waste all the killing was, then point their guns at the cat. It would have made more sense to turn the guns around.
I think the draw (if you will pardon the pun) here is that the special effects are so well done you can barely believe your eyes. Blood and body parts appear at the
drop of a hat. How DO they do that? This question might best be directed to the stage crew who, as the last audience members leave the theatre, can be seen
onstage, buckets and sponges in hand, washing down the walls, the windows, the floors and furniture – like a cleanup crew at a murder scene. They could tell
you how. Doubt they could tell you why.
So, at the end of the evening the question about this production is "And the point would be……?"
©2006 Tulis McCall
©2006 Tulis McCall