Dramaworks will conclude its season with Martin McDonagh’s
The
Cripple of Inishmaan. Six
years ago, Dramaworks’ last performance at its former intimate stage on Banyan
Street was McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of
Leenane, a play that rips your heart out.
I reviewed it as “grimy and gritty…[with] dark humor that shrouds the entire play.”
But have no such fear seeing The Cripple of Inishmaan as it is essentially a touching comedy, beautifully crafted by a
master playwright. Like Beauty Queen, this play unfolds in a
remote setting in Ireland, where people cobble a life out of unforgiving
isolation and hardship -- after all, this is Irish Theatre.
Dreams are in short supply on the
desolate island of Inishmaan, particularly for the sensitive, physically
challenged Billy Claven. So when word
arrives that an American filmmaker is coming to the neighboring island of
Inishmore to make a motion picture (this part is based on fact when the
director Robert J. Flaherty went to the Aran Islands in 1931 to make a
documentary about the harsh conditions there), Billy yearns for a part in the movie, hoping for a trip to Hollywood
and to escape the cruelty and bleakness that engulf him.
Dramaworks’ usual brilliant casting has
called on a mix of newcomers to play alongside several of the incredibly
talented South Florida veterans who have graced the Dramaworks stage many times
before. I caught up with some of them
and the Director during Dramaworks’ Press Day.
PBD’s production is directed by J. Barry Lewis who has stunningly brought to life scores of South Florida
productions. He commented “This
play is truly built around character identity, unique characters caught in a harsh
world, some wanting to leave. Each character has very specific human needs and the
action flows from that.” He characterizes it as a “dramatic comedy” and thinks
one of the minor but particularly oddball characters, Bartley, has a key line
which goes to the heart of the play’s theme: “It never hurts to be too
kind.” He added that in PBD’s casting “you
create a kind of family with each production.”
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| Adam Petherbridge |
And what a cast! Among
the newcomers is the lead Adam Petherbridge as Billy Claven. Besides the obvious challenges of playing a young
man with such severe physical disabilities, he noted the difficulties of
dealing with his changing relationship to the other characters. “J. Barry has been great in pointing out a
path,” he said. Not so coincidentally,
this is his favorite play. “I read it in
college and have always wanted to do the role ever since. When I saw it listed for casting in NYC about
a year ago I said to my agent, let’s go after it!” Petherbridge sees this as “true Irish theatre,
particularly in its use of rhythmic language. “
Another NYC based actor making her PBD debut is Adelind
Horan who plays the feisty lass, Helen.
She shares a remarkable happenstance with Petherbridge as she has always
wanted to play this role since she saw the play when she was 10 years old! Her parents are both actors and her father once
played the role of Babbybobby in the play. So
both actors are fulfilling a dream.
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| Adelind Horan |
Horan is also the author of a one person
play focused on the hardships in the Appalachian region, Cry of the Mountain. She has
been to the Aran Islands and sees “many similarities between the hardships of
the people of Appalachia and the people of remote West Ireland.” Although her character has a hard exterior,
“I think Helen likes Billy all along and all the characters essentially have a
soft core.”
Billy’s “pretend aunties” are played by Laura Turnbull
(Kate) and Elizabeth Dimon (Eileen), two of the finest actors in South Florida,
double threats as they are both dramatic and musical performers as well. And they are also best friends and although
they have played opposite one another as friends and even as lovers in past
plays, this is the first time they are playing sisters, which describes how
they actually feel about one another. One
can only imagine how this deep respect for each other will surface in this
production.
 |
| Laura Turnbull |
Turnbull mentioned “there are dialogue challenges in
playing Kate but I love doing an authentic west coast Irish accent (although
liberties are taken to make everything clear to the SF audience).” “I see Kate as a kind woman with a lot to
worry about and especially needing to be kind to Billy.”
 |
| Elizabeth Dimon |
Elizabeth Dimon said she feels “that while her character,
Eileen, is very tender toward Billy, she will correct him when she feels he is
wrong. All the characters have a good heart,
but don’t cross them up or make them feel like a fool. Although bleakness is a given, I love the
well written characters and the dialect.”
And she echoed Turnbull’s sentiments about returning again to do a play
at Dramaworks, to work with J. Barry and especially the cast. “It’s like family, a sense of comfort; you
know the actors and you know the process.”
Others in the cast or crew of this PBD production are
Colin McPhillamy as the “town crier” Johnnypateenmike O’Dougal, Wesley Slade
(PBD debut) as Bartley, Helen’s younger brother, Jim Ballard as Babbybobby,
Dennis Creaghan as Doctor McSharry, and Harriet Oser as Mammy O’Dougal. Scenic design is by Victor Becker, costume
design is by Franne Lee (PBD debut), lighting design is by Paul Black, and
sound design is by Steve Shapiro.
The Cripple of Inishmaan opens at Palm Beach
Dramaworks on May 19 and continues through June 4, with specially priced
previews on May 17 and 18. The
performance schedule includes evening performances Wednesday through Saturday
at 8PM, and Sundays at 7PM. Matinee performances are on Wednesday, Saturday,
and Sunday at 2PM. Post-performance
discussions follow Wednesday matinee and Sunday evening performances. Individual tickets are $66, with specially
priced preview tickets at $46 and Opening Night tickets at $81. Student tickets are available for $10; tickets
for educators are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply). Group rates for 20 or more and discounted
season subscriptions are also available.
The Don & Ann Brown Theatre is located in the heart
of downtown West Palm Beach, at 201 Clematis Street. For ticket information contact the box office
at (561) 514-4042, or visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.
