ROLLICKING LAUGHS, FLOWING BLOOD IN BERKELEY 
                                              By Georgia Rowe
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater, music and dance 
                                                                 Week of April 26, 2009
                                                                  Vol. 11, No. 94
           The stage of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre is awash in blood this month.  Martin McDonagh’s “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” which opened in the company’s Roda Theatre on April 22, appears to use more fake blood than any production in the company’s history.  It also got bigger laughs than any other play I’ve seen this season. 
            McDonagh’s comedy about political terrorists in rural Ireland is horrifyingly funny.  But the gore --- and the laughs --- aren’t gratuitous.  The playwright, whose “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” and “The Pillowman” were also hits for this company, couches several thoughtful messages about human nature, our appetite for violence and the Irish Question in this gruesome and extravagantly absurd two hours.
            Audiences familiar with those earlier plays won’t be surprised by McDonagh’s gleeful, freewheeling use of torture, murder and dismemberment.  Even so, “Lieutenant” – brilliantly directed by Les Waters – pushes the envelope until it disintegrates.  “Worse and worse this story gets,” says one character, and he’s right: as the violence spins out of control, you start to wonder if the characters have any feelings at all.  Oh, but they do – for their cats. 
            It’s the death of a cat that begins it.  (Note: no actual cats are harmed.)  As a lieutenant in an Irish Republican Army splinter group, Padraic (played by the delightfully restrained Blake Ellis), routinely tortures his enemies; we first meet him on assignment, pulling the toenails out of a suspect (Daniel Krueger as the hapless James.)  Yet, when Padraic receives news that someone has killed his beloved cat, Wee Thomas, he goes ballistic.  Back home, Padraic’s father, Donny (a comically dissolute James Carpenter) and neighbor Davey (a hyperactively obtuse Adam Farabee) examine the feline’s mutilated remains and quake with fear, pondering what course Padraic will take upon his return.
            That, as they say, is a no-brainer.  Padraic comes home on a mission, and the play becomes a revenge tragedy with a higher body count than “Hamlet.”  Even as Padraic begins wreaking havoc on those he suspects of killing his kitty, his rivals (a dim-bulb trio played by Donny Wolohan, Rowan Brooks and Michael Barrett Austin) arrive gunning for him, and Davey’s sister (Molly Camp as Mairead), a revolutionary wannabe who’s been honing her skills shooting the eyes out of the village cows, comes to his defense.
            Waters’ production is expertly paced, with Act I meandering a bit and the second half kicking into high gear.  The play’s technical demands are mind-boggling, but the director and his design team – Antje Ellermann (sets), Alexander V. Nichols (lighting), Anna R. Oliver (costumes), Obadiah Eaves (sound) and Stephen Tolin (special effects) – bring it all together like clockwork.
            The cast is phenomenally good.  Ellis, Carpenter and Farabee are especially strong as the play’s anchors, but Camp, with her boyish hairdo and gun-slinging demeanor, turns in the evening’s most endearing performance.
            Critics have compared the play to the films of Quentin Tarantino, and there’s no denying the outward resemblance.  Yet, as much fun as McDonagh has with these characters, the playwright seems more interested in exploring the two conflicting sides of the Irish temperment – the fierce idealism that inspires nationalistic fervor (the famous ballad, “The Patriot Game,” is used prominently in the production), and the deep vein of sentiment that prompts killers to weep over their cats.  “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” gets to the heart of that divide.  In the end, though, cat love triumphs over everything – family, friends, romance, even the dream of a Free Ireland.
            “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” continues at Berkeley Repertory Theatre through May 17.  Two hours, with one intermission.  More info at 510-647-2949, or go online.   
        ©Georgia Rowe 2009
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            Georgia Rowe is a Bay Area arts writer. Her work has appeared in Opera News, the San Francisco Examiner, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Contra Costa Times in addition to artssf.com.     These critiques appearing several times weekly focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.

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