About the Play:

The Cripple of Inishmaan has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues and Male/Male Scenes.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is a full-length comedic drama by Martin McDonagh. Dreams are in short supply on Inishmaan, especially for Billy Claven, orphaned and crippled since birth. So when a Hollywood filmmaker arrives on the neighbouring island to make a movie, young "Cripple Billy" goes after a part in the film, hoping to escape from the cruelty and bleakness of his daily life. The Cripple Of Inishmaan examines an ordinary coming of age in extraordinary circumstances and has become one of its author most admired works.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is inspired by the real-life filming of the documentary Man of Aran – director Robert J. Flaherty's seminal 1934 documentary about the primitive way of life on the barren, limestone islands in Galway Bay. Set on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan (Inis Meáin) off the Western Coast of Ireland, the inhabitants are excited to learn that a Hollywood film crew is coming to the neighbouring island of Inishmore (Inis Mór) to film a documentary of life on island. No one is more excited than 17-year-old Billy Claven, desperate to escape the gossip, poverty and boredom of his island life, he is eager to be a part of the film. An orphan and outcast, "Cripple Billy" has been raised by his harsh but well-meaning aunties, Kate and Eileen, ever since his parents drowned in the rough seas off Inishmaan. It seems that nobody ever really wanted Billy, but perhaps Hollywood will? Maybe that will stop chronic busybody Johnnypateenmike's stupid gossiping about him? Or better yet, attract the attention of the beautiful yet terrifying Helen? But first he's got to find a way to cross the sea to Inishmore. Once there, will he ever come back? For Billy is determined to audition for a part in the film, and to everyone's surprise, the orphan and outcast gets his chance… or so some believe! The Cripple of Inishmaan is a comic masterpiece which sees eccentric island characters trade stories to within an inch of their lives while a young man tries to make sense of who he is.

The Cripple of Inishmaan premiered in 1996 in the Cottesloe auditorium of the Royal National Theatre in London and was remounted in 1998 Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in New York City. Since then the play has been produced widely at professional theatres worldwide. It has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 4 female, 5 male

What people say:

"Spellbinding… this glimmeringly dark comedy has the wisdom to let us laugh 'til it hurts." — The New York Times

"McDonagh's…comic talent appears unlimited, and he also has a way…of mixing up his humor with a touch of the poet and a profound sense of tragedy always dangerously lurking on comedy's untidy fringe. In short, young McDonagh is a playwright to reckon with…." — New York Post

"…McDonagh's storytelling style…has the clarity and power of fable. Each character enters not only with his own idiosyncrasy but with his own distinct idiom. McDonagh skillfully juggles rhythms and repetitions so as to illuminate the sadness, defensiveness and longing for connection underneath the characters' badinage." — The New Yorker

"McDonagh…is at root an Irish realist in the tradition of Synge, O'Casey, Friel and Billy Roche. He is also a born storyteller with a precocious sense of dramatic structure." — The Times (London)

"Mr. McDonagh [is] a realist with rich gifts…[He] is immensely talented and bizarre." — New York Observer

"Mr McDonagh is destined to be one of the theatrical luminaries of the 21st century." — The New Republic

"Martin McDonagh's cruel, but not altogether heartless comedy [and] the sly viciousness and in-bred eccentricity of McDonagh's smalltown anti-heroes." — Daily Telegraph (London)

About the Playwright:

Martin McDonagh is an English-born Irish playwright, filmmaker, and screenwriter. He is considered one of today's most important Irish playwrights. He has been nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards, and he received the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright in 1996 for his play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane. He also received a Laurence Olivier Award in 2003 for his work, The Lieutenant of Inishmore. His films include Seven Psychopaths and In Bruges.