Mike Allen

Professor Richard McElvain

Introduction to Theatre
28 October 2014
Black Comedy on a Green Island: Three Works by Martin McDonagh
Ireland musnt be such a bad place, so, if doctors
are want to live here.
-The Cripple of Inishmaan
The plays of Martin McDonagh are renowned for their deft combination of humor
and drama, which force their way into the hearts of the audience. The characters can be
at once both disturbingly wicked as well as delightfully hilarious. This clever literary
one-two punch is used to bring to life the beautifully bizarre menagerie of characters that
can be found in McDonaghs plays. The plays of Martin McDonagh have been described
as witty, clever, dark, violent, sharp, gruesome, cunning, horrific, among many other
things. His plays are masterworks of wit, character, and conflict. McDonagh seems to
channel the literary powers inherent to Ireland; a nation responsible for the famed Book
of Kells, and other old and beautiful works. McDonaghs plays are unforgettable in their
shocking nature, in their tightly woven dialogue, their celebration of violence, their
sarcastic and dark senses of humor, and their incredibly complex and well developed
characters. Within this essay we will cover three of Martin McDonaghs masterworks.
These three plays are The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and A
Behanding in Spokane. These three plays I find to be a concise and accurate summation
of McDonaghs career and talents. With these plays McDonagh shows that he is truly a

master at work when he spins these comically tragic tales of the twisted characters
McDonagh chooses to inhabit the beautifully dark and melancholy settings of his greatest
plays.

One cannot discuss McDonaghs writing without keeping in mind the country of
Ireland and its conflicted past. McDonagh writes with great passion about the people in
the land of shamrocks and white cliffs. His plays are written with the dialect in mind
with certain words spelt the way they should be pronounced. For example the English
for becomes fer, and the fuck becomes feck. While the themes of his plays are
universal, many of the conflicts are strictly Irish. In The Lieutenant of Inishmore one of
the conflicts is between a member of the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) and
three men from Northern Ireland who have come to kill him. Ireland is a nation split in
two, and McDonagh references this frequently in his works. His characters often yearn
for a unified Ireland, one where the island is one nation and the British imperialist regime
is ousted from the land like the snakes in the days of St. Patrick. The characters in a
McDonagh play are used to losing. They are the citizens of a nation whose identity is
split and leaves a marked insecurity on its people. This insecurity often manifests in
forms of self-deprecating humor. [EXAMPLE FROM CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN].
This insecurity often appears in angry and negative characters whose outlooks on their
lives and the lives of others are bleak and grim with no hope of changing for the better.
The characters of McDonaghs plays live in cottages in villages. The majority of the
characters have decided that this is their lot in life and decide that a provincial village life
is the way to exist for them. However, his plays will often contain characters who dream

of something bigger. In The Cripple of Inishmaan the main character Cripple Billy
Claven yearns for a life beyond his small island village. He wishes to star in movies and
head to America, the land of opportunity. In The Lieutenant of Inishmore it is Mairead
who represents hope of a life beyond her little village. Mairead wishes to leave with the
INLA lieutenant Padraic and travel around the country bombing those people who
Padraic declares enemies of a free Ireland. The characters of McDonaghs plays appear
with a hard edge on the outside, but often underneath are just as vulnerable as anyone
else.

Ireland musnt be such a bad place, so if the yanks want

to come here to do their filming.
-The Cripple of Inishmaan

McDonaghs plays are painted thickly with pitch black humor. The characters are
quick to speak ill of each other, but more often than not in a tone that shows that the ill
will is not serious. The dialogue drips with sarcasm. The humor could be seen as
tasteless at times, but it could be argued that the humor always derives from the
characters and as such has little to do with the tastes and/or lack thereof of the author.
This same argument is often had with many of those authors who specialize and partake
in the dark art of black humor. I personally find it incredible that there exists a way to
make an audience both feel deeply a sincere outpouring of melancholy emotion while
also laughing uncontrollably at the ironic twists of fate that McDonagh heaps upon his
characters. McDonaghs pen takes no prisoners. His plays will burst into violence at a

moments notice, often resulting in the death of one or more character. See here how
McDonagh details the violent death of Padraic the mad lieutenant.

Padraic: (pause.) No, its something to with brave men

perishing, I think.
Mairead: Aye. (she shoots Padraic in the head with both
guns. Padraic falls back on the table behind him, dead, his
cat still clutched in his arms, his mouth wide open.
Mairead looks at the guns in her hands a while, as she
quietly continues with the song. Singing.) I stood alone
where brave man perished. Those men have gone, their
God to meet. (she places the barrels of both guns in
Padraics mouth, leaves them there and gently takes her cat
back off Davey.) Be chopping up that feck, now, the two of
ye.
-The Lieutenant of Inishmore

In this example it is obvious that McDonagh places much value in the violence of his
plays. The amount of description given here is far flung from the stage directions of
Shakespeare, they fight, and the imagery of a girl placing two pistols in the mouth of a
large and brutish man, can be read as having an almost pro-feminist sexual connotation.
In the common speak she is ridding herself of him, and telling him to suck a (two)
dick(s). A great and powerful symbol that shows Mairead is the most traditionally

masculine character in the whole of the play. Mairead begins the play as a young woman
constantly trying to earn the respect of Padraic through feats of bravery and
marksmanship with an air rifle. Later in the play she earns his respect and his love, but
with this newfound power, with these real guns, she realizes she does not need Padraic
for her to thrive as a woman. So when it is revealed that Padraic killed her cat in a fit of
rage it is easy for Mairead to dispatch Padraic with his own pistols, blowing his brains
out in cold blood. A similar moment of violence can be witnessed at the very beginning
of A Behanding in Spokane.

Carmichael sits there for some time, blankly, then reaches

inside his overcoat, takes out a gun, sighs, goes over to the
closet, and crouches down in front of it. He cocks the gun
and opens the closet door. The knocking stops.
Carmichaels aims the gun into the closet. Theres a muffled
agitation. He fires a single gunshot. The muffled agitation
ceases.
-A Behanding in Spokane

It is later revealed that Carmichael did not shoot the man in the closet, but rather that he
shot near the bound mans head just to have him quiet down. Still, this opening image of
a man with a gun is classic McDonagh. Many moments in his plays come down to a man
with a gun, and how McDonagh subverts the expectations, tropes, and cliches of a typical
action based genre. McDonaghs embrace of the dark and violent minds of borderline

psychotic charactersMcDonaghs specialty is in these moments of extreme violence, of

extreme darkness, of extreme tragedy, wherein he is able to deliver triumphantly
humorous lines that leave the audience in fits. McDonagh is a masterful spinner of tales
that take a bite of the bitter irony in life, and that revel in the dark moments that all
people as human beings have to share. Those common emotions with which the audience
empathize, but then are dialed up to eleven so as to be completely ridiculous and over the
top which results in the audiences amusement. In The Lieutenant of Inishmore
McDonagh puts this technique to work. In the play Padraic loses his cat. When he learns
his cat is departed he flies into rage, even going so far as threatening to kill his own father
and his lovers brother for letting his cat die. This basic feeling of loss is very easy to
empathize with and as such makes Padraic an interesting character filled with depth as his
undying love for his cat is starkly juxtaposed with his penchant for torturing and killing
those he deems as enemies of a free Ireland.

Ireland mustnt be such a bad place, so, if

German fellers want to come live here.
-The Cripple of Inishmaan

The language in a McDonagh play can often be seen as abrasive or offensive.

With the unhesitant use of words like feck and shite many of his characters know a
colorful repertoire of curses and slang. In A Behanding in Spokane the N word is said
to a black man many times over the course of the play. This unflinching application of
vernacular in his plays is part of what makes McDonagh such a bold playwright. He uses

it in a way that feels natural, showing a real ear for the speaking rhythms of both the
Irish, the north Irish, and the Americans. McDonagh keys in to the sing-songy rhythm of
the Irish dialect, and as a reader you can hear the accents in your minds ear, and it makes
for a highly entertaining and easy read. This masterful flow of the English language runs
like water in your ears, and what a wonderful feeling it is to contract a bit of swimmers
ear via the plays that McDonaghs writes with a hand graced by God in its beautiful
formation of literary achievement and powerful theme and metaphor. Double meanings
abound, the characters speak often, and say much This natural ear for dialogue extends
throughout each character of each play. In Ireland there exist many of different accents
and dialects depending on the region in which you currently find yourself. McDonagh
keeps that in mind when constructing his dialogue, and writes characters from different
regions so that they are inclined to speak like those who are natives of that same region in
real life. It is an understatement that McDonagh has a natural ear for the poetic dialogue
of the people of the green isle. Much can be said of McDonaghs ears, and what fine ears
they are.

Ireland mustnt be such a bad place, so, if sharks want to

come to Ireland.
-The Cripple of Inishmaan

The Cripple of Inishmaan is the earliest of Martin McDonaghs plays that I have
read. Within this play is a darkly comic look at the people of Ireland and their love for
their country, even if they do not always show it in a traditional way. The characters of

The Cripple of Inishmaan are self-deprecating, and never have much positive to say to
each other. One of the few nice among them is Cripple Billy Claven. Cripple Billy is a
deformed and handicapped young man who lives in a small island off of Ireland. In this
town he walks back and forth from the doctors to where he lives with his Aunties Kate
and Eileen. He often stops to look at cows, and think deeply. In fact, Cripple Billy is one
of few characters in his little village who have the ability to think abstractly. He has a
good heart and a strong head, but only is his body lacking. The poor Cripple Billy wishes
to leave his small island village, and seizes an opportunity to when he leaves to attempt to
get a part in the film Man of Aran. Not only does Cripple Billy receive a part in the
movie, but he is brought back to the United States of America by the filmmakers and
begins acting overseas. He is rewarded for his positive and persistent attitude. Later
Cripple Billy returns to his beloved Ireland, having learned to appreciate the small
provincial village town in which he was born and raised. Cripple Billy is almost a Christlike figure. He is picked on all his life; he is unloved. Even his parents tried to kill him
when he was first born by putting him in a sack full of rocks and dropping him in the
ocean. He was saved by JonnyPateenMike, a man who is thought of as a fool in the
village, and who like Cripple Billy is often mocked by the townspeople. This mocking
even turns into violence at times when the burly and strong seaman Babby Bobby beats
up on the weaker JonnyPateenMike. Of course, JonnyPateenMike can be at times quite
annoying and grating at times, so Babby Bobby is not without some justification for his
violent acts. Babby Bobby lost his wife to tuberculosis and as such can be a melancholy
character at times. Billy uses this sympathy to make Babby Bobby take him away on his
boat so he can travel and become a part of Man of Aran. In this little village town also

live Helen McCormick, a sassy lass with a fiery heart. This fire can often make her
appear bitter, as she speaks ill of other and is known to peg many of the other villagers
with eggs if she does not like them or if they attempt to harass her. Near the end of the
play Cripple Billy asks Helen on a date, and she initially says no but later returns and
answers affirmatively, but only if some basic rules are followed.

Helen: (forcefully) All right so Ill go out walking with ya,

but only somewheres no fecker would see us and when its
dark and no kissing or groping, cos I dont want you
ruining me fecking reputation.
Billy: Oh. Okay, Helen.

Helen leaves and Billy coughs up blood from his tuberculosis. Just as everything is good,
it is also bad. Such is the biting irony and theme of Martin McDonaghs The Cripple of
Inishmaan.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore follows the story of two poor fools who end up in the
middle of the struggle between the INLA and the government of Northern Ireland. After a
lieutenant of the INLA discovers that his cat has been killed he returns to his hometown
seeking vengeance. He wields dual pistols like the wrath of God. On his return he meets
Mairead, a well meaning young lady who wants to take part in the fight for Irish
independence. Davey and Donny try to salvage the situation and keep Padraic from
killing them. Meanwhile, three armed north Irish men stage an ambush to kill Padraic in

his home upon his return. He is saved by the quick shooting marksmanship of Mairead,
and they fall in love. Mairead later kills Padraic however, after she discovers that he has
killed her own cat. It is a darkly comic tale of mans love for his pets; the littlest members
of the family, but with the biggest hearts.

McDonagh proves time and again in each of his plays that he is a master linguist
who can twine the tightest plots with the most interesting characters. Add to all this a bit
of a flair for the shocking and grotesque, and you have one of the greatest playwrights of
the last half century.

An Irishman! (pause.) Just an Irishman. With a decent

heart on him, and a decent head on him, and a decent spirit
not broken by a centurys hunger and a lifetimes
oppression! A spirit not broken, no
-The Cripple of Inishmaan