Susan Granger’s review of “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” (Lyceum Theater)
Martin McDonagh’s gleefully ghoulish and brutal black comedy, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” ostensibly revolves around an unhinged Irish terrorist out to avenge his dead cat. Yet it’s really an absurdist allegory about the cycle of violence and the IRA.
It all begins in 1993 in a simple cottage in Inishmore, County Galway, where a moronic, pony-tailed teenager, Davey (Domhnall Gleeson), and his elderly neighbor, Donny (Peter Gerety), are confronted with the limp body of Wee Thomas, a cat found dead on the road. It’s the beloved pet of Donny’s son Padraic (David Wilmot), a psychotic Northern Irish lout who is in the midst of torturing a local drug dealer (Jeff Binder) when he hears the news that his cat is “sick.” Rushing home, he confronts a trio of IRA thugs (Andrew Connolly, Dashiell Eaves, Brian D’Arcy James) as well as a feisty, lovestruck lass, Mairead (Alison Pill), with a BB gun. By the time the ensuing mayhem gets resolved, the stage is awash in a gory orgy of body parts and blood.
“It’s incidents like this does put tourists off Ireland,” Donny observes astutely.
Best known for “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” and “The Pillowman,” Martin McDonagh has crafted an unpredictable, dangerously daring, idiosyncratic satire. British-born but with subversive Irish roots, McDonagh is blessed with the gift of gab, dealing with anger management issues with tremendous theatrical excitement.
It’s not easy to play simpletons whose bodily temperature exceeds their IQs, but the entire cast is superb, particularly Domhall Gleeson and David Wilmont, who originated their roles in British production. Credit the cleverly captivating direction of Wilson Milam, who staged the play in 2001 for England’s Royal Shakespeare Company and earlier this year off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company.
It’s taken several years for “Lieutenant of Inishmore” to mount a production in the United States – because of its shock value – and, looking to the future, Martin McDonagh is now at work directing “In Bruges,” his first full-length feature film.