Before Martin McDonagh penned and directed the award-winning films In Bruges or The Banshees of Inisherin, he wrote for the stage. He also once said that he prefers writing films to plays because he has a “respect for the whole history of films and a slight disrespect for theatre”. Perhaps this is what makes his plays so exciting and form-challenging – after all, who else would write a scene in which an electric stove gets blown up by a shotgun?
In brilliant news for dark comedy lovers in Sydney, Empress Theatre brings McDonagh’s The Lonesome West to the Old Fitz Theatre (in the basement of the Old Fitz Hotel), the first in a whole season of exciting indie theatre programmed by their new artistic director Lucy Clements (founder of New Ghosts Theatre Company) and executive producer Emma Wright. The play follows two constantly bickering brothers in the tiny village of Leenane, on the west coast of Ireland, and the constantly peace-making and crisis-having Father Welsh who cannot reconcile his faith with the deaths that keep happening in his parish. Girleen the hooch-seller pops in every now and then, and pines after Father Welsh.
Anna Houston directs a fantastic cast of Ruby Henaway as Girleen, Abe Mitchell as Father Welsh, Lee Beckhurst as Coleman, and Andre de Vanny as Valene. De Vanny’s tiny, snivelling, miserly Valene is a hilarious foil to Beckhurst’s boofhead Coleman, always stealing Tayto crisps and starting quibbles that quickly turn physical. Mitchell’s Father is misty-eyed and soft, oblivious to everything but the mistakes he thinks he is making in the eyes of the Lord. Houston’s direction brings out the twisted humour in McDonagh’s writing, with a great sense of the slowly increasing tension (and horrific crimes) between Coleman and Valene throughout the play. Houston also uses the Old Fitz’s tiny pub basement space to spine-chilling effect, placing the brothers right amongst the audience at some of their most violent moments.
Set and costume design by Kate Beere dresses Coleman and Valene (as well as their house) in dark greens, browns, and greys – a perfect colour scheme for the hopelessness behind each of the characters’ eyes. Ripped and warped wallpaper makes its way down the walls of the house, and various biscuit tins inside dark wooden hutches hide Valene’s treats from Coleman. Later, a huge green velvet piece of fabric becomes rolling hills behind Father Welsh as he contemplates leaving Leenane. The lighting design by Spencer Herd brings varying depths of focus to these scenes, while still preserving the dingy, cool tones of the set and costumes. It’s as if the brothers live in the marshes that surround them – which means anything brighter than glib, mossy green has your immediate attention.
A heart-stopping, incredibly quick two-and-a-half hours, The Lonesome West is an absolute treat to have on a Sydney stage, 20 years after its debut on Broadway. If you wanna see the beginnings of Martin McDonagh’s writing for the theatre, or just a great reflection on violence and what we owe to each other, you won’t be disappointed. Take your brother/sibling, and be safe in the knowledge that you probably haven’t had fights as terrible as these two.
