THE LONESOME WEST. To 30 November.
Bolton
THE LONESOME WEST
by Martin McDonagh
Octagon Theatre To 30 November 2002
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 20, 30 November 2.30pm
Audio described 29 November
BSL Signed 28 November
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
TICKETS 01204 520661
Review Timothy Ramsden 11 November
Sharp, beautifully-judged revival of McDonagh's fine play.Barely a folksy Irish myth or image doesn't now have the antic shadow of Martin McDonagh cavorting behind, sending up the cosiness, injecting harsh laughter with strychnine severity. The beautiful Irish colleen becomes a weary, desperate mother-abuser; the freedom fighter contorts into a rabid cat fanatic inflicting blood and death in the name of feline affection. This, third of his Leenane Trilogy, is one of his strongest horror-comics.
In the small west Irish community, arid of mind as bleak in landscape, where emotions are constricted by circumstances brothers Coleman and Valene live clutched in their cottage, bound in a childish resentment. As the parish priest keeps pouring his guilt all over them, and the local lass with adolescent affections finds no suitable expression for them, the pair bicker and rage.
They're finely-portrayed opposites in build and manner, Peter Dineen's ample, open-mannered Coleman trying to steal a march on Michael Glenn Murphy's pinpoint precise Valene, who's blackmailed (we casually, pleasantly discover) his brother out of his share of their joint inheritance.
This pair can argue with babyish intensity over a pack of crisps. Or Coleman – with the innocent intensity of childish vindictiveness – can take his revenge out on the new stove or religious figurines which are his brother's ridiculously venerated toys.
No scene is funnier than their attempted making-up in the wake of yet another local suicide. Death made wildly funny's a near-staple of modern black comedy, yet McDonagh invests alongside the wild laughs a sense of sadness. This also makes for quiet before the storm of fun that comes as the brothers parade around in unfamiliar, ill-dressed mutual politeness, before relationships between relations get smashed one final time.
Surrounded by the dark rocks of Neil Irish's steep-edged set, the brothers' home becomes a comic inferno in Mark Babych's exuberant and finely-acted production. Dineen's Coleman could be your hearty mate in the pub, his large innocence of manner making funnier the furious outbursts. Murphy, with the keen collector's possessive delight in his purchases has a contrastingly contained neatness. Kieran Lagan and Tracey Moore offer exactly the right degree of melancholy in this lonesome western outpost.
Coleman Connor: Peter Dineen
Father Welsh: Kieran Lagan
Girleen Kelleher: Tracey Moore
Valene Connor: Michael Glenn Murphy
Director: Mark Babych
Designer: Neil Irish
Lighting: Thomas Weir
Sound: Andy Smith
2002-11-20 09:01:00