ARTS NET, Tampa Bay*

When we walked into the Jobsite Theater and the lady behind the counter said, “Just to let you know, this play has adult themes, profanity, violence, gore and loud noises,” we knew we were probably in for a good night. 

“The Lieutenant of Inishmore” is a truly funny black comedy by well-known Irish playwright Martin McDonagh.  The play opens with Donny (Ned Averill-Snell) and Davey (Dominic Russo) trying to figure out what to do with Donny’s son’s black cat who has been seriously mutilated.  The comic bungling of the pair was very entertaining and set the tone for the rest of the play.

Donny’s son, Padraic (Matt Lunsford) is a volatile and dangerous Irish terrorist with no feeling for those he tortures or blows up, and has an obsessive love for his pet cat, Wee Tommy.  When he comes back home to find that his cat (his only friend in life) has been killed, all hell breaks loose with lots of bloody gore.  Much of the humor comes from Padraic’s odd combination of being a violent extremist (shown happily torturing a small time marijuana dealer who is hanging upside down) and his tender feelings for his cat.

Kari Goetz is a standout as Mairead, a sixteen-year-old tomboy who wants badly to be a freedom fighter / terrorist.  She has a huge crush on the hunky but dangerous Padraic, who keeps telling her she needs to let her hair grow, put on a dress and learn to cook; a notion which the wholeheartedly rejects.  She does, however, show up in one scene wearing a skin-tight white dress.  Her expressions, phrasing and body language make us completely believe she is that young Irish girl.  Some of the funniest parts of the show occur when she comes on to Padraic.

Matt Lunsford is perfect as Padriac.  He deftly captures the character’s odd combination of volatility and barely-contained aggression with his tenderness for his cat (as he strokes and coos to the dead carcass).  Matt displayed a very convincing physicality in hoisting his torture victim upside-down through the use of a pulley.

All of the acting is superb.  Irish accents are spot-on and the cast works well as an ensemble.

Martin McDonagh’s plotting is immaculate.  Every turn of events is carefully set up, leading to an O’Henry type of twist ending that is completely satisfying.

Brian Smallheer, the set and lighting director, did a great job of portraying a rural Irish cottage that gradually becomes filled with more and more carnage.  I’ve never seen so much blood on a stage.  It was spurting and sloshing everywhere.  Even though I usually don’t like violence at all, it was humorous in the context of the play.  Brian also made great use of strategic lighting to add to the mood and emphasize certain scenes.

I would definitely recommend this play.  It’s somewhat ironic that I wanted to see this play because I’m a cat lover, and the play was all about killing cats… but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway because it’s all in the spirit of black humor. 

The play is about much more than comic violence.  It carries the strong moral message that anyone who tries to solve something through the use of violence will ultimately become the victim of violence.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore will be playing at the Jobsite Theater through April 12th. http://www.jobsitetheater.org/inishmoretimes.asp

Sally Bosco is an author who lives in the Tampa Bay area and writes Paranormal Romance ( http://ZoeLaPage.com ) and young adult dark fiction
( http://SallyBosco.com )