The Cripple of Inishmaan
I ventured up to Ellenville last night with my aunt to see Shadowland Theatre's production of Martin McDonagh's "The Cripple of Inishmaan". I've always loved McDonagh's work, though I've never seen it performed. This was a fantastic production at a gem of a theatre pretty close to home. Ironically enough, both Shadowland and Forestburgh are regional theatres but I found the theatre and prodcution to be of a Much Higher caliber at Shadowland.
The cast was almost uniformly excellent. The only weak links were C.C. Loveheart as Aunt Eileen and Doug Woolley as Doctor McSharry. Loveheart's voice was so unsupported it was a strugle to hear her words, especially under her uncomfortable Irish accent. The accent wasn't wrong, just not comfortable, and it sounded like a great struggle for her. Woolley's accent on the other hand went from Wildly inconsistent in the first act (I actually thought he was from Georgia for a second) to the second act when I guess he realized it would be safer if he just didn't try. Basically McSharry went from a Georgian transplanted to Inishmaan to Doctor Gibbs from Our Town. At least he was only in two scenes, making his accent adventure bearable. Joel Leffert as Johnnypateenmike had a ridiculously thick, Irish brogue in his first scene that he cleaned up by the next scene. The beginning was such a clownish portrayal of an old Irishman and he talked So rapidly that 90% of his owrds were lost. Luckily, once he cleaned up the accent, he also cleaned up his acting making his Johnnypateen rather amusing. I don't know if it's in the script or not but I saw no purpose in having Mammy played by a man. If that's McDonagh's choice, fine. If it's the directors....I missed the point. Luckily, P. Murphy portrayed Mammy As a woman (and not a man in drag) and she provided great comic relief. Jack Harris as Babbybobby was fine. I rather liked his portrayl except that his scene where he beats Billy with a pipe was really sloppy beat-wise and his sudden turn to attack Billy came out of nowhere.
Particular standouts were Lynn Laurence as Aunt Kate, Anthony Blaha as Bartley, Ellis Cahill as Helen, and in a Stunning performance by a rather young actor, Devon Talbott as Criple BIlly. Laurence handled the accent marvelously, never once did it seem remotely unnatural for her and her strong, clear voice allowed her acting to shine (as opposed to Loveheart). Bartley reminded me an awful lot of Fred or George Weasley except that he was Irish as opposed to English. He and Cahill had a terrific handle on their characters and provided great comdeic tiiming as well as the roughness in the way they treat Billy. Cahill was fierce as Helen. Her and Blaha as well had such a command over the text and the accent that their characters truly lived. The scene where she broke four eggs on Bartley's head was fantastically funny and their treatment of McDonagh's wordplay was quite masterfully handled. Talbott as Billy....Wow. He's in the process of studying as Tisch (meaning he's around my age, roughly). That is what true talent looks like. Billy has a heartbreaking monologue in the second act. When Talbott performed the scene, I think every single person in the audience was stunned. The applause after the scene was really late as the audience recovered from the shock. A truly stellar performance, I can't wait to see him perform in a few years and see how he's grown.
The set design was gorgeous as well as the sound and lighting. I dopn't think I've seen such a powerful final light cue in a while. *Spoiler in case any of you plan to read the play and don't want to know McDonagh's twists*
Billy kisses Helen and she laughs at him and runs off. After hearing the truth about his parents (They tried to drown him and Johnnypateen saved him) he grabs the sack off the wall and begins stuffing it with pea cans to go drown himself. Helen runs back in saying that she'll go walking with him that week. Finally with a optimistic outlook on the future, Billy throws the sack off his arm and basks in the moment of happiness.....as he starts to cough severely as the lights bask the stage in a bright white and the sound of the ocean swells, Billy drops the rag is coughing into...which is now covered in blood (He has TB and will die soon) and as Billy looks in terror at his lost happiness yet again, a quick blackout engulfs the theatre as the sound of the ocean comes to a climax.
*End Spoiler*
Overall, a brilliant production of a stunning play. Defintiely gop see it (it plays tonight through Sunday (closing)).
Off to my second to last shift at work.
The cast was almost uniformly excellent. The only weak links were C.C. Loveheart as Aunt Eileen and Doug Woolley as Doctor McSharry. Loveheart's voice was so unsupported it was a strugle to hear her words, especially under her uncomfortable Irish accent. The accent wasn't wrong, just not comfortable, and it sounded like a great struggle for her. Woolley's accent on the other hand went from Wildly inconsistent in the first act (I actually thought he was from Georgia for a second) to the second act when I guess he realized it would be safer if he just didn't try. Basically McSharry went from a Georgian transplanted to Inishmaan to Doctor Gibbs from Our Town. At least he was only in two scenes, making his accent adventure bearable. Joel Leffert as Johnnypateenmike had a ridiculously thick, Irish brogue in his first scene that he cleaned up by the next scene. The beginning was such a clownish portrayal of an old Irishman and he talked So rapidly that 90% of his owrds were lost. Luckily, once he cleaned up the accent, he also cleaned up his acting making his Johnnypateen rather amusing. I don't know if it's in the script or not but I saw no purpose in having Mammy played by a man. If that's McDonagh's choice, fine. If it's the directors....I missed the point. Luckily, P. Murphy portrayed Mammy As a woman (and not a man in drag) and she provided great comic relief. Jack Harris as Babbybobby was fine. I rather liked his portrayl except that his scene where he beats Billy with a pipe was really sloppy beat-wise and his sudden turn to attack Billy came out of nowhere.
Particular standouts were Lynn Laurence as Aunt Kate, Anthony Blaha as Bartley, Ellis Cahill as Helen, and in a Stunning performance by a rather young actor, Devon Talbott as Criple BIlly. Laurence handled the accent marvelously, never once did it seem remotely unnatural for her and her strong, clear voice allowed her acting to shine (as opposed to Loveheart). Bartley reminded me an awful lot of Fred or George Weasley except that he was Irish as opposed to English. He and Cahill had a terrific handle on their characters and provided great comdeic tiiming as well as the roughness in the way they treat Billy. Cahill was fierce as Helen. Her and Blaha as well had such a command over the text and the accent that their characters truly lived. The scene where she broke four eggs on Bartley's head was fantastically funny and their treatment of McDonagh's wordplay was quite masterfully handled. Talbott as Billy....Wow. He's in the process of studying as Tisch (meaning he's around my age, roughly). That is what true talent looks like. Billy has a heartbreaking monologue in the second act. When Talbott performed the scene, I think every single person in the audience was stunned. The applause after the scene was really late as the audience recovered from the shock. A truly stellar performance, I can't wait to see him perform in a few years and see how he's grown.
The set design was gorgeous as well as the sound and lighting. I dopn't think I've seen such a powerful final light cue in a while. *Spoiler in case any of you plan to read the play and don't want to know McDonagh's twists*
Billy kisses Helen and she laughs at him and runs off. After hearing the truth about his parents (They tried to drown him and Johnnypateen saved him) he grabs the sack off the wall and begins stuffing it with pea cans to go drown himself. Helen runs back in saying that she'll go walking with him that week. Finally with a optimistic outlook on the future, Billy throws the sack off his arm and basks in the moment of happiness.....as he starts to cough severely as the lights bask the stage in a bright white and the sound of the ocean swells, Billy drops the rag is coughing into...which is now covered in blood (He has TB and will die soon) and as Billy looks in terror at his lost happiness yet again, a quick blackout engulfs the theatre as the sound of the ocean comes to a climax.
*End Spoiler*
Overall, a brilliant production of a stunning play. Defintiely gop see it (it plays tonight through Sunday (closing)).
Off to my second to last shift at work.