We went to see a crazy, on-the-edge-of-your-seat play last week. It's the second play I've seen by playwright Martin McDonagh, after going to his Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Young Vic in London last year. The Beauty Queen was a gripping black comedy-tragedy with twists and turns that left you thinking about it long after it was over. And Martin McDonagh wrote and directed the film In Bruges, which I still haven't seen but people keep recommending. Also, his brother John Michael wrote and directed The Guard, which was one of the best films I saw last year (available at all good Blockbusters and Lovefilms - get it out now if you haven't already!).
So all in all I was really keen to see how the Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Lyceum in Edinburgh turned out. And it was a rollercoaster. It's a satirical look at terrorism, a tongue firmly in cheek portrayal of rural Ireland, and a blacker than black comedy of torture and violence, with singing. And with probably the best last minute story twist in the (cat's) tail I've ever seen in a play.
Martin McDonagh seemed to have been a bit of an enfant terrible of the theatrical world back in the 90s when he first shot to fame, and apparently when he first wrote The Lieutenant of Inishmore, no theatre company would produce it. This is not entirely unsurprising to me now, having seen the roll call of mangled cats, torture scenes, jokes about Irish terrorism, and bloodspattered body parts. But since then it seems to have played everywhere from Stratford on Avon to Florida, and even though I spent most of the last scene hiding behind my hands from the gore on stage, I'm really glad I've seen it. Funny, shocking and thought provoking - what more could you want from a night at the theatre?
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