This was Martin McDonagh's first play written in 1996 and although brought up in England by his Irish parents, he located his first few plays in County Galway where he holidayed as a child. His brilliant writing and structuring of plays were already visible in the tightly drawn “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”. He went on to write the wonderful “The Cripple of Inishmaan” which Daniel Radcliffe so brilliantly played in the West End and “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” which Aiden Turner scored a hit with. We are now waiting for his first non-Irish play “The Pillowman” to come to London after the pandemic delayed its opening. Of course, he found even greater fame as the writer and director of the film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” which won four golden globes. It was therefore a pleasure to see this revival at the Minera theatre in Chichester.
All his early plays depict what may be thought of as stereotypical Irish characters in fairly poor bleak settings, but his writing makes them feel real from the start and the plot development is believable despite the often dark and shocking twists and turns. He captures the lyrical phraseology of the rural Irish voices and peppers his script with meaningful pauses which add to the tension and threatening behaviours and also allow the audience just enough time to speculate on the motivations and potential outcomes. Even simple phrases such as “Lumpy Complan” (the nutritious drink) or “Do you want a Kimberley” (a local Irish Biscuit) seem to acquire threat!
