The University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance continues its 2014-2015 season with “The Cripple of Inishmaan.”
I was hesitant about seeing this show because, well, the title sounded extremely depressing. So you can imagine my surprise when the program said “A Comedy by Martin McDonagh.” To be fair, I think both the program and I were right in our own ways.
This is not watching-”Home Alone”-with-your-family-at-Christmas kind of funny. This is sharing-a-laugh-with-equally-awful-friends-over-Cards-Against-Humanity, surprised-by-your-capacity-for-darkness kind of funny.
What
Perhaps this will make more sense when I tell you the program also said: “An Enchanting Irish Folktale!” that “has been characterized as a salty version of Tiny Tim in ‘A Christmas Carol.’” Leave it to the Irish, right?
Billy, or “Cripple Billy” as the other characters call him, is the title character. In some ways, Billy seems to be a metaphor for Irish history: He’s up against insurmountable odds, but he’s a spirited and determined fighter. He wants to go to a neighboring island to be in a film, with hopes of being shipped off to Hollywood and away from Inishmaan. Billy is often the punchline of other character’s jokes, so when the villagers hear about him wanting to pursue an acting career, they are ruthless.
Via: nytimes.com
Okay, so this still doesn’t sound funny. But this is dark humor at its best — satire with a side of cynicism.
The humor is in the details and the ridiculous banter. For example, Billy’s “Auntie” talks to rocks. “The Cripple of Inishmaan” is not gut wrenching like “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” because the characters seem mutually repulsed with each other. The other characters’ mockery towards Billy and everyone else in the village is platonic, and Billy treats them like the blindly insensitive people they are.
In the end, everyone appreciates Billy, and Inishmaan is Billy’s home. The repulsion is not purely hateful, but a side effect of being in a tight-knit community you hate to love and love to hate — kind of how one might feel at a family reunion.
Extra Culture Points: Daniel Radcliffe recently played Billy on Broadway. Casually mentioning this will interest people because A) everyone that matters loves “Harry Potter,” and B) people will want to know if you got to see him naked. Sadly, this is not the show he stripped down for.
Where
Unfortunately, the show is only around for two weeks, closing Sunday, October 5. Luckily, it is being performed on campus, so you can easily see it after class or over the weekend. The Black Box Theatre is conveniently located next to the Reitz in the school of Theatre and Dance.
The theatre is fairly small, so the audience is extremely close to the actors. Close enough that Billy fell out of a bed so close to a girl in the audience, that she moved her leg and looked super uncomfortable.
But the set still looked real enough that I felt like I had just washed ashore on the coast of Inishmaan, and the actors performed as if they were alone in their homes.
Via: i.yimg.com
Who
Usually I can go through a movie or a play without learning the characters’ names, but UF’s Theatre Department made each character unforgettable. You leave knowing the names and quirks of each of the nine characters. To name a few, Billy is irony and vulnerability personified; Jonnypateen is the village gossiper; Bartley is obsessed with telescopes.
Also, we tend to brace ourselves for the worst when a play requires foreign accents, but everyone’s accents were unusually great.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 352-392-1653, ordering them online at ticketmaster.com or by going to the Constans Theatre box office beforehand. Be warned: You will be forced to make a conscious effort not to say things with an Irish accent after seeing this play.
Featured photo courtesy of: Blogspot
