Cast
Katie Abel.......Helen
Karl Berner.......Billy
John Evans......Babbyboby
Marcia Gienapp......Mammy
Tim Gleason.......Johnnypateen
Jeff Jones.......Doctor
Sheri Nash.......Kate
Andy Urschel........Bartley
Deborah Weiss......Eileen
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About The Play
Although The Cripple of Inishmaan is fiction, it finds its basis in fact. Hollywood film director Robert Flaherty brought his crew to the Aran Islands in 1934 to make The Man of Aran, a documentary in the same man-against-nature format as his earlier success, Nanook of the North. The Venice International Film Festival awarded The Man of Aran a prize for Best Foriegn Film. Other critics, however, found the documentary flawed by the manner in which it romaticizes poverty. While the conflict between man and nature may be noble in Hollywood terms, not all tales can be told in Hollywood terms. That's why The Cripple of Inishmaan finds itself equally obsessed with gruesome real-life poverty and romanicized Hollywood escape. The Cripple of Inishmaan opened in January of 1997, directed by Nicholas Hytner, in the Cottesloe Theatre at the Royal National Theatre, transferring to the larger Lyttelton auditorium in April of 1997. The Cripple of Inishmaan made its US debut at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in New York in April of 1998 where, following the extraordinary success of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, it sold out its entire run while the play was still in rehearsal. The play's Chicago premiere was at Northlight Theatre.
The World of the Play
The Aran Islands, where most of the action of The Cripple of Inishmaan takes place, mark the westernmost point of the European continent. The three islands are Inishmore (Inis Mor, meaning "big island"-9 miles long), Inishmaan (Inis Meain, "middle island"-3.5 miles in diameter), and Inisheer (Inis Oirr, "eastern island"-3 miles in diameter). Life on Inishmaan (population: 250) is fairly rugged and primitive, and ruled by the ocean waters that surround it. Soil for farming is typically a mixture of seaweed harvested from the ocean and sand found on the beaches. Electricity arrived on Inishmaan at the late date of 1975. Gaelic is the native language of Inishmaan, and many of the residents do not speak English at all. Yet, these tiny islands have been the source of inspirition for some of the 20th century's finest artists, for example, J.M. Synge, Lady Gregory, Liam O'Flaherty, W.B. Yeats, Sean Keating, and Harry Clarke. It's fitting, then that The Cripple of Inishmaan playwright, Martin McDonagh, uses the Irish gift of gab, of eloquence, with its exquisite tempos and rhythms and lilt to build his characters and enhance his storytelling. A number of unusual colloqialisms are used in the production. The meanings of most are obvious from their context. The listing at the end of this piece, however, includes some of the more unusual words and phrases found in the script. There are two final points to be made about the land and the language of the Aran Islands. First, this rocky land is home to many sheep. World renowned Aran sweaters (the classic style is an ecru-colored, rough, boiled sheep's wool with a wavy pattern) are still hand-knit in homes across the islands and shipped to upscale boutiques around the world. Second, for crossword puzzle fans, "Aran" is frequently the answer to a clue about small islands of great importance to poetry or sweaters-four letters. Four evocative letters.
Inishmaan Vocab List
bang on the gob - hit across the face
banshees - spirits who warn of death
colleen - young girl
curragh - lightweight, open boat made of lath and canvas
doolally - crazy, loony
eej/eejit - fool, simpleton, idiot
-een - added to the end of a word, meaning "little"
gasur - young boy
get - despicable person
gob - mouth, face
jam roly poly - jelly-filled sponge cake
jumper - sweater
peg - throw, hammer, beat
poteen - whiskey made from potatoes
praities - potatoes
shillelagh - stout cudgel or club
winkles - snails
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Set in 1943, on a remote island off Ireland’s coast, Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan is the strange comic tale following the fabled tradition of Irish storytelling. Based on actual events, the story begins when word arrives in the town of Inishmaan that a famed Hollywood director is coming to a neighboring island to shoot a film. And the one person who wants to be in the movie more than anybody is young “Cripple Billy”—if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life. In this bleak, yet wickedly funny play, McDonagh (author of The Beauty Queen of Leenane) shows us a world so comically claustrophobic and mean-spirited that even the thought of hope is an alien concept. Directed by CTG's award-winning team, Jonni Pera and Traci Brant