The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Paperback)

by Martin McDonagh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Come on in ahead for yourselves. I'm just in the middle of shooting me Dad."

Who knocked the cat belonging to "Mad Padraic" over on a lonely road on the island of Inishmore and was it an accident? He'll want to know when he gets back from a stint of torture and chip-shop bombing in Northern Ireland: he loves his cat more than life itself.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore premiered at the RSC's The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in April 2001.

Martin McDonagh is one of Britain's finest young playwrights and won a prestigious Olivier Award for The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which has had successful runs in both the USA and the UK.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
Martin McDonagh's first play The Beauty Queen of Leenane was nominated for six Tony awards, of which it won four, and the Laurence Olivier Award. In 2003, his play The Pillowman had its world premiere at the Royal National Theatre and received the 2004 Olivier Award. In 2006, Martin McDonagh won an Oscar for his short film Six Shooter. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dramatist's Play Service (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822219344
• ISBN-13: 978-0822219347
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More existentialist than Tarantino, June 5, 2006

By	Stephen F. Davids (Elk Grove, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With the Tony nomination for Best Play this year, there might be some renewed interest in buying this book (the most recent review on this site was in 2003). This is laugh-out-loud funny stuff, and well worth reading. While "existentialist" may be a bit pretentious, this play deals with absurdity and futility in an atmosphere of constant violence and death. That McDonagh can make this material so funny is a tribute to his gift. This play I believe is a companion piece to McDonagh's Oscar-winning short film Six Shooter (available for download on iTunes), which deals with some of the same subjects, and also reserves its only tenderness for pets. I can see why people make the Tarantino comparison, but I see Tarantino as more of a stylist who sets out intricate time sequences and is less concerned about traditional narrative structures. McDonagh, by comparison, is very much into formal plot devices and structure.

Definitely not for those who don't enjoy black humor. For those who enjoyed The Pillowman (on Broadway last year), this one is an earlier play and doesn't have nearly the creativity and ambition of Pillowman. But it is still very well worthwhile, and a lot of fun.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow., March 12, 2003

By	S. A. Rader "Pop Culture Extrodinare" (Hays, KS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Lieutenant Of Inishmore (Modern Plays) (Paperback)

OK. I think McDonagh is a straight genius. I read this play, because I am currently in The Cripple of Inishmaan(the tame McDonagh play), but only because out director didn't think he could get the rights to this one. But I read this play, and I almost [messed] myself almost every other line. it is just that funny. I wish that we could have gotten the rights to it. It would be great to watch our director figure out how he would pull all this crazy stuff off. Overall, this is just a really funny, violent reason as to why I love the theatre. READ THIS SCRIPT. IT IS AMAZING. It is also very, very lean. No fat at all. A very short, perfect read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bloody Good Play, July 14, 2006

By	Van D. Roth "culture vulture" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Lieutenant Of Inishmore (Modern Plays) (Paperback)

I saw this play at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway (7/9/06, Sunday matinee) not even a week ago as of this writing. It was nominated for several Tony awards this season and I can easily understand why. It is absolutely the most outrageous comedy I have seen in years of theatregoing. Very dark. Very well written. Very funny. Worth the trip and definitely worth the read.

McDonagh challenges us to laugh at what would be normally very tense, dramatic, serious scenes. He has created a world populated by characters that think they are smart but we can see they have solutions and ideas that are idiotic. These absurdities make scene after scene strikingly laugh out loud funny, despite their violent conclusions.

The point well made - that terrorism is a fool's paradise and is pointless, creating needless hurt and confusion - is spelled out in comedic terms so well drawn that you laugh despite your better judgment. That is, until you understand the logic of placing humor front and center, as the most integral of survival skills.