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“An excellent script, somewhat let down by its production”

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Martin McDonagh’s play, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”, follows the story of Padraic, lieutenant of an Irish National Liberation Army splinter group as he returns home to Inishmore following the death of his cat and explores the fallout that ensues after he learns of its murder.

Any fans of Martin McDonagh’s other work will recognise immediately the tone of the writing – the dark, absurdist humour present in his films (notably In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin) and other plays is on full display here with the dialogue and set pieces of the play forming a vehicle for its more complex themes. The dialogue in particular is sharp and witty as always and the emergent narrative is utilised excellently in defining characterisations and either lifting or darkening the tone of the play as desired.

In this, the Everyman’s production, directed here by Chris Sonnex, they make good use of the small space available in the theatre through utilising a combined set – no need for changes of background or set dressing mean that the play certainly flows much better than it may have otherwise. Were it to need longer breaks between scenes the pace of the production – which is almost a predicate for the narrative and dialogue to flow well, in this play, I would say, far more than most.

The lighting and stage production is thoroughly adequate throughout, though with the limited set and small number of lighting effects there is little to notice or to really go wrong, yet it is worth noting that what minimal effects there are are competently rendered and do work seamlessly with the larger production.

The acting on display is unfortunately broad, however, with a lot of the subtleties of the script lost beneath a veneer of what ultimately amounts to insincerity. Certain lines and scenes are overtly played for laughs, with the result being that at many times it almost loses the ‘dark’ element of ‘dark comedy’ and the feel of the production can trend towards the pantomime-esque.

This is a shame as it undermines a lot of the more nuanced themes presented in the play (questions of vengeance, violence, and the nature of factionalism, for example, are all touched upon) and means that some of the less obvious of them are missed, in my opinion, entirely. They all seem to end up mired in the aforementioned insincerity and the result is an unfortunately diluted version of the original play. Obviously in theatre one must project and address the audience – there is certainly not as much room for subtlety as in film, with the roving camera – yet too much of the dialogue feels one-note and lacking in appropriate emotion or affect. Ultimately, as the actors left the stage, I was left with the singular thought: ‘It could have been better.’