|
September 23 - November 9, 2008
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Reviewed September 28 by
Brad Hathaway |
Running time 1:50 - no
intermission
t
A Potomac Stages Pick for an
unrelenting comedy of blood and gore |
Click here to buy the script
 |
Jeremy Skidmore's staging of
Martin McDonagh's outrageous and bloody take on the illogic of violence may
be too much fun for the social commentary it contains to be noticed ... at
least until after your sides stop hurting from all the laughter. You see,
McDonagh is really criticizing the blithe acceptance of violence in the
history of his homeland's struggles. Serious stuff, that. Serious or not,
the author manages to get you laughing at things you never thought of as
funny. Torture? Hah! Sadism? Chuckle! Mayhem? Guffaw! Gallons of gore? Roars
of laughter! It all works in the smaller of Signature's two theaters in
Shirlington because everyone involved takes the work seriously. Skidmore
makes sure that no one winks at the excesses. No one pulls a punch to avoid
being politically incorrect - that would be fatal to the effort. Instead,
the banality of violence is reduced to routine, and, in the process, becomes
fodder for farce. |
Storyline: On the remote island of Inishmore, just off shore from
Ennistimon at Ireland's Galway Bay, two villagers are panicked at the
thought that the cat one is keeping may have been killed in a bicycle
collision with the other. The reason for the panic? The owner of the cat is
an executioner for a splinter group of a splinter group of the IRA, a young
man who takes great pleasure in the pain he can impose on his victims before
allowing them the release of death. Add a band of terror inflictors from the
parent splinter group and an equally adept pain inflictor of a bonnie lass,
and you have a recipe for a different kind of blood sport.
McDonagh is probably the most successful Irish
playwright on these shores since George Bernard Shaw. At least the beginning
of his career has been astonishingly successful on Broadway. His first play
to reach Broadway was The Beauty Queen of Leenane. That was only ten years
ago. A year later it was The Lonesome West. Three years ago he had The Pillowman on Broadway and then this play arrived two years ago. All four
were nominated for the Tony Award for best play. Quite a
record for a young man still in his thirties. His combination of audacity,
strong theatricality and a unique combination of affection for the character
traits of the Irish and the ability to portray their weaknesses and excesses
without rancor has made his output fascinating.
Matthew McGloin and John Lescault are the pair of
locals who, it turns out, rightly fear the consequences of the cat's demise.
McGloin is particularly effective at drawing the audience's mirth without
ever breaking the pretense of reality. So too is Karl Miller rock solid in
his adherence to apparent reality as the gun and razor toting terrorist who
can treasure both the opportunity to inflict pain and the affection of a pet
cat. Cassie Platt, Michael Glenn and Tim Getman each contribute additional
touches of excessive tomfoolery, but it is Jason Stiles who rises to the
challenge of the most demanding of roles in the piece, for he has to play
practically his entire scene hanging by his feet while being tortured - I
told you, it is a comedy!
Among the creators who take McDonagh's work most
seriously is Daniel Conway, who designed a set that creates the world of the
play at a level of detail that exceeds reality. The main part of the set is
the cottage in which so much of the mayhem is performed. Given the amount of
sticky, gooey stage blood that is unleashed each night, it must have been a
major chore finding materials that look so natural for floors, walls and
fabrics that could be cleaned between shows. After all, the stains from a
day's matinees must be gone in time for the evening show. Costume designer
Kathleen Geldard may not have had quite the same challenge as the cast can
change into new costumes while the others are in the wash, but she
certainly came up with outfits that look just as authentic, serious
recreations of the world of the play.
Written by Martin McDonagh. Directed by Jeremy
Skidmore. Fight choreography by Dale Anthony Girard. Dialect direction by
Leigh Wilson Smiley. Design: Daniel Conway (set) Kathleen Geldard (costumes)
Dan Covey (lights) Mark Anduss (sound) Scott Suchman (photography) Kate Olden (stage manager). Cast: Tim Getman, Michael Glenn, Joe Isenberg, John Lescault, Matthew McGloin, Karl
Miller, Casie Platt, Jason Stiles. |
|
|
|
December 2 - February 22, 2008
Les
Misérables
Eric Schaeffer directs a new staging of the
mega-ist of mega-musicals in its 280-seat black box theater, The MAX. With
its glorious score by Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer based on the original French
text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, the musical version of Victor
Hugo's massive novel will be staged on a five-ton steel structure supporting
its cast of 30 and an orchestra of 14.
December 17 - 20, 2008
December Divas
The cabaret series will have a new program for the holidays.
January 13 - March 1, 2009
The Little Dog Laughed
Broadway is laughing at Douglas Carter Beane's book for the musical
Xanadu at the moment, but last season it
was this comedy that caught people's attention. Michael Baron will direct
this send up of all things Hollywood which, for its Potomac Region premiere,
will star Holly Twyford.
March 18 - 21, 2009
LaChiusa's Ladies
As Signature gears up for the two-musical festival of Michael John LaChiusa,
the cabaret series mounts an evening of his works.
April 7 - May 24, 2009
See What I Wanna See
Michael John LaChiusa's musical based on short stories by Ryunosuke
Akutagawa earned nine nominations for Drama Desk Awards for its Off-Broadway
run in 2005. Matthew Gardiner will direct the Potomac Region premiere as
part of the American Musical Voices Project funded by the Shen Family
Foundation.
April 28 - May 31, 2009
Giant
The world premiere of a musical based on the novel by Edna Ferber features
music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and a book by Sybille Pearson. It
will be directed by Eric Schaeffer.
June 10 - 13, 2009
Partial Eclipse
The composer of the Edgar Allen Poe musical Nevermore premieres a song cycle
on the search for a soul mate. |
| |
|
