Opening Night September 26—

TheatreWorks New Milford To Present Irish Comedy ‘The Lonesome West’

NEW MILFORD — TheatreWorks is returning to the work of playwright Martin McDonagh’s and his godforsaken village of Leenane this month with The Lonesome West, a brutally funny Irish tale about two conniving brothers after their father’s death.

The Lonesome West portrays an Ireland that is as comic as it is dangerous. This blacker-than-black comedy follows the Cain-and-Abel-like battles of two brothers, Coleman and Valene – a pair of siblings who can easily escalate a discussion about potato chips into a fist fight. Their mutual hatred borders on the absurd as they attempt to share the home of their just-buried dad, “accidentally” killed by a blast from Coleman’s shotgun.

A young melancholy priest, Father Welsh, makes it his mission to reconcile the brothers and get them to live in peace. But adding to his woes is Girleen, a flirtatious young parishioner (and moonshine peddler), who finds herself in love with Welsh. It’s like the Odd Couple, only with murderous tempers, poteen (the local hooch) and guns.

“The play is a must for those who like their comedy dark and especially anyone who enjoyed last year’s ‘A Skull in Connemara’,” said director Richard Pettibone. “McDonagh’s powerful writing blends pathos and pettiness into a constant, tragic-comic mix. This is humor that the Irish do best, a broad comedy with a threat of tragedy lingering just under the surface.”

The Lonesome West features Tom Libonate and Bruce Thomson, as the battling brothers Coleman and Valene, with Amy Fabish as the moonshine selling Girleen, and Kevin Morgan as the oft put upon Catholic priest, Father Welsh.

The show is being produced by Bill Hughes and Richard Pettibone. Production designers include Scott Wyshynski on lights and Bill Hughes on sets. Rita Rable and Sonnie Osborne fill in the details as both acting coaches and stage managers.

“McDonagh seems to instinctively grasp a basic truth, one that eludes even some our most lauded playwrights, that is, that the human condition is seldom exclusively comic or tragic, but rather a marriage of the two,” said TheatreWorks artistic director and designerBill Hughes.

The Lonesome West is the third play in McDonagh’s Leenane trilogy which also includes A Skull in Connemara, which was a sell-out hit here last season, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which is coming up at TheatreWorks in 2004. McDonagh’s critical acclaim for these works has been astounding; his The Beauty Queen of Leenane garnered four Tony Awards and The Lonesome West received a Tony Nomination for Best Play.

The Lonesome West will run in New Milford September 26 through October 18. Curtain time is 8 pm Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm for the production’s matinee on Sunday, October 12. Tickets for all shows are $15 for general admission.

On Thursday, September 25, senior citizens are invited to a free dress rehearsal at 8 pm, and then Thursday, October 2, also at 8 pm, will be the production’s Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance patrons name the price for their tickets.

Reservations can be made at www.TheatreWorks.us or by calling the box office at 860-50-6863. TheatreWorks is an award-winning non-Equity company of volunteer professionals located on 5 Brookside Avenue, just off Route 202 next to M&B’s IGA in New Milford.