By Sheila Abrams
If the expression “Irish humor” brings to your mind leprechauns, kindly priests who look like lephrechauns, and warm and fuzzy sentimentality, be advised. You won’t find any of that in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Martin McDonagh’s black comedy now on stage at Centenary College’s Lackland Center.
In fact, you won’t find much if anything warm and fuzzy in McDonagh’s body of work, which includes such stunners as the award-winning play The Pillowman, and the cult classic film, In Bruges. One of the most brilliant dramatists writing in the English language today, McDonagh has a caustic approach to humor and to life in general. He also has an unusual view of Ireland. Born and raised in London of Irish parents, he takes a long view of Irish tradition. He sees it not an outsider but not exactly as an insider either.
The Cripple of Inishmaan, it should be said up front, is hilarious, and the Centenary Stage Company production, directed by Carl Wallnau, certainly does it justice. Played broadly by an outstanding cast, it is laced with rapidly-paced and frequently mildly obscene dialogue (but it’s Irish obscenity so you may not even recognize it as such) and rowdy physical humor delivered from the most unexpected sources. (Left, L-R: Tom Morin as Cripple Billy, David Edwards as Johnnypateenmike, and Mark Byrne as Babbybobby)
The story is set in 1934 on Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands, off the western coast of Ireland. The locals, a group of eccentrics to put it mildly, are so starved for novelty in their dull lives that they actually regard as newsworthy a goose biting a cat on its tail or a sheep being born without ears. The title character, known to all without regard for political correctness as Cripple Billy, amuses himself by staring at cows.
An orphan raised by two foster aunts and now in his twenties, Billy is a lonely soul. He has a crush on Helen, the only young and pretty female we ever see. She has an inclination to violence, and spends a lot of time smashing raw eggs onto male heads, most particularly that of her brother, Bartley.
The unofficial town crier, Johnnypateenmike, who makes his rounds delivering the news such as it is, for once arrives at the shop run by the two aunts with something worth hearing. A group from Hollywood, under the direction of director Robert Flaherty, has arrived in the neighboring island of Inishmore for the purpose of filming the documentary Man of Aran. (The actual film was being shown on a laptop in the theater lobby, a bit of inspiration, we thought.)
The younger locals, in this case Billy, Helen and Bartley, convince a local boatman, Babbybobby, to take them to Inishmore, where they hope to get roles in the movie—or at least to relieve their boredom. Three days later, only two of them return. And that’s where we’ll stop. McDonagh can tell the rest. (Right, L-R: Kyle Parham as Bartley and Leah Barker as Helen)
The production is terrific. The Centenary Stage Company, a professional Equity theater, has employed the talents of award-winning set designer Bob Phillips, light designer Ed Mathews and sound designer Colin Whitely, to provide a perfect setting. Scene changes were handled unusually quickly and unobtrusively.
As Billy, Tom Morin (left) managed to transcend the broad comedy around him, eliciting pathos without sloppy sentimentality. And his physical struggle, moving as a handicapped man, was startlingly and painfully convincing. Leah Barker was delightfully crazy as the violent Helen. We assume the real Leah Barker is civilized, but she managed to hide it totally as she became Helen.
Broadway theater veteran David Edwards (Right, far right) made Johnnypateenmike, the bringer of news, into the engine of the play, the character who kept things moving. Funny and irritating, his scenes with his ancient and alcoholic Mammy, hilariously portrayed by Kathleen Huber (left), were side-splitting.
We enjoyed seeing CSC’s General Manager Catherine Rust (right) become Eileen, one of Cripple Billy’s aunts, playing off another CSC veteran, Carolyn Popp (left), as her sister Kate. (Kate talks to rocks, and they answer her. Eileen, on the other hand, is addicted to American sweets, to a degree only marginally less crazy.)
Mark Byrne was ideal as Babbybobby, who seems confused as to why Billy should think he would prefer just to be called Bobby. Dave Scheffler, another CSC veteran, was persuasive as the doctor, the sanest character we meet. And kudos to Centenary College student Kyle Parham, who, as Barley, was the recipient of most of Helen’s violent attention. He took it like a trooper.
At the age of 42, Martin McDonagh is perhaps the most important dramatist writing for theater and film today. This is an excellent and very entertaining example of his work and well worth seeing. It will run through March 10.
Photos by Bob Eberle.
