Padraic (Damien Seperi, center) searches for answers in the death of his beloved cat in the Masquers Playhouse production of “The Lieutenant pf Inishmore.” Padraic questions Joey (Alan Coyne, bottom left) and Donny (Avi Jacobson, bottom right) while under pressure from Brendan, Christy, and Joey (Jesse MacKinnon, David Stein, and Dan Kurtz). Martin McDonagh’s look inside the mind of a cat lover plays weekends August 23 – September 28 at the theater in Point Richmond. “Inishmore” is a comedy that contains graphic violence—it is not appropriate for children.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore: Satirical Comedy by Martin McDonagh. The Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, CA 94801-3922. 510-232-4031 or www.masquers.org.
August 23 – September 22, 2013
The Lieutenant of Inishmore is bloody good at The Masquers Playhouse
The ambitious Masquers Players in Point Richmond have undertaken to produce the very difficult Irish play The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh who has a perverted sense of humor along with an ear for colloquial dialog and excellent control of playwriting mechanics. More often than not he goes over-the-top with plot construction leaving the audience aghast if they do not realize he is creating outlandish fiction with a smidgen of truth that rolls inexorably to a climax.
So it is with this play that takes place on a claustrophobic one room set (Mike Maio) in a remote part of Ireland. Before the short production ends four bodies are strewn literally about the stage along with two dead cats. There are eight cast members and this reviewer will not reveal which four depart this mortal world nor in what condition they are in when they leave. Just say it is a bloody mess and I certainly would not want to be the stage manager (Vicki Zabarte) nor one of her crew members who have to clean up.
It’s those damn cats that cause one half of the problems. Cat lovers are known for their fierce attachment to their feline companions. It starts when Davey (a fine Alan Coyne), an effeminate youth with long shoulder length hair has found a dead cat when out riding his bike. He brings the cat’s body to Donny’s (Avi Jacobson a real pro actor) cottage and discovers that it is Wee Thomas, the 15 year, and only “friend” of his son Padriac (Damien Seperi) who has started an unapproved splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Wee Thomas had been entrusted to Donny for safekeeping while his son is on the mainland bombing fish-and-chip shops. Davey and Donny hatch a plot that is an improbable scenario to replace the black Wee Thomas with purloined orange tabby using shoe polish for coloring. Their inane dialog sets the tone for gruesome comedy to follow.
Padraic (Damien Seperi, right) interrogates James (Dan Kurtz, left)
We see Padriac’s mean streak in the second scene where we find local drug dealer James (Dan Kurtz) physically ‘hanging out’ with him. That mean streak explodes when he returns home to discover the death of Wee Thomas.
Before that happens we get to meet 16 year old Tomboy Mairead (Cherie Girard-Brodigan), sister to Davey, who likes to shoot out the eyes of cows (from a distance of 50 feet no less) and is about to do harm to Davey for killing the cat (which he did not do). Enter Christy (David Stein) an IRA leader with his two henchmen Joey (Dan Kurtz in a double role) and Brendan (Jess MacKinnon). It was they who did the dastardly deed to Wee Thomas as a sure way to get Padriac to return so they could kill him for being a renegade.
Things get more complicated when Padriac in a rage shoots the poor cat disguised as Wee Thomas. He shouldn’t have done that because that cat has an owner who loves it.
The intrepid IRA trio save Davey and Donny from Padriac and take Padriac out the door as their prisoner and are going to remove ‘the splinter’ from their group. Not so fast. Mairead and her trusty gun are out there and the tables are turned. Do not ask because this reviewer will not tell. You will have to take the trip to Point Richmond to be hysterically, humorously appalled at the outcome.
The entire cast does a creditable job even though their Irish accents fluctuate throughout the evening. This play won the Olivier Award for best comedy in 2001 and was nominated for other awards on and off Broadway. The running time is a scant two hours with intermission that is more than enough for an evening of bloody farce/comedy/satire. However, it is worth seeing.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
