A Bit o’Blarney at The Western Stage

 

The Western Stage continues its 30th Anniversary Season on June 25th with Martin McDonagh’s comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, playing through July 18 in the Studio Theater, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center. Hollywood is coming to Ireland, and there’s nobody more eager to run off and become a star than Inishmaan’s very own Cripple Billy. Season subscriptions are still the best bargain. Go to WesternStage.com for complete information or call the ticket office at (831) 755-6816. The Cripple of Inishmaan plays Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. Strong language. (94 word calendar listing/PSA)

 

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The Western Stage continues its Pearl Jubilee Season June 25th with Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan. Set on an island just off the coast of Ireland circa 1934, this dark comedy tells the story of Cripple Billy and his quest to become a Hollywood movie star. An orphan, whose parents mysteriously drowned shortly after his birth, Billy lives with two doting aunts in a village of eccentrics. Most consider him to be quiet the freak with his gimp leg and crooked arm. Yet, in truth, Billy is but one grotesque being among many. There is his Aunt Kate who holds conversations with stones, Johnnypateenmike who scurries around gossiping about everything under the sun, and good old Helen who assassinates livestock for pay. Yet, despite this common penchant for oddity, Cripple Billy is somehow always singled out as the oddest. So, when a Hollywood movie crew comes to Ireland to film the documentary “Man of Aran”, Billy sees it as a chance to become a movie star and escape his miserable life. Although he is not cast in the movie, he does get an invitation to do a screen test in Hollywood for another film. The question is: can he make it, or will loneliness draw him back to the strange little island which he so desperately wanted to escape? 

 

With absolutely no writing experience to speak of and even less theatrical training, Martin McDonagh burst on the theatre scene literally out of nowhere in 1996 with his first play The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Yet, his rough style and love of a good story made him an instant success.  “I’m a storyteller,” he says. “Ireland had a great tradition of storytellers roaming the countryside. I’d like to get back to that bare essence of things.” Like J.M. Synge, whose Playboy of the Western World and Riders of the Sea were drawn from his experiences on Inishmaan, McDonagh has discovered a reservoir of inspiration in this unique region of Ireland, expanding Cripple into a trilogy with a play for each of the Aran Islands. Located just 30 miles from the city of Galway in some of the most turbulent waters in the Atlantic Ocean, these Islands remain one of the most isolated spots in the world, virtually untouched by Western culture. The mere 200 inhabitants of Inishmaan continue to speak the ancient Celtic and Gaelic languages and live as their great-grandfathers lived before them.

 

Robert Flaherty’s “Man of Aran”, the documentary that sets the action of this drama in motion, strove to capture this unique environment. The movie follows the harrowing plight of a fisherman named Colman “Tiger” King and his family as they persevere against the tempest like storms and rugged conditions of island life. However, it is not a film without controversy. Aware that the presence of a camera would effect what was being filmed, Flaherty made no effort to capture the naturalness of island life. Instead, he strove for a poetic realism that used montage and striking images to tell this story of man versus nature. People from the island—people like Billy and his friends—were cast as the leads in the film, but the story, for the most part, was crafted by Flaherty.

 

For more on Martin McDonagh, see supplemental article.  

 

The Cripple of Inishmaan features a talented cast* of TWS alums and guests directed by Jeff McGrath (Prelude to a Kiss, 2003).  He is supported by scenic designer Dohn Grube, with lighting by Jim Hultquist, Sound Design by Tony Tissot,  Costume, Makeup & Hair Design by Kat Ogletree and stage management by Devon O’Donnell. 

 

TWS continues its 30th Anniversary Season with Hello, Dolly!  In July and All My Sons in August. Sweeney Todd, Tartuffe, and Into the Woods will continue the TWS’ Pearl Jubilee in the fall.   

 

Dan Tarker, Literary Associate

 

*THE CAST

in order of appearance

 

Eileen-                        Susan Keenan

Kate-                           Jennifer Forbes

Johnnypateenmike-  Richard Courtney

Cripple Billy-              Troy Osteraa

Bartley-                       Colin Jennings

Helen-                         Erin Thompson

BabbyBobby-            Sean Tarrant

Doctor McSharry-      Jeffrey T. Heyer

Mammy-                     Lenore Opalach