Theater Review—

‘Lonesome West’ Is Well Worth A Drive

To New Milford

By Julie Stern

NEW MILFORD — In China, a country where the emphasis on boy babies has led to a shortage of available wives for the boys when they grow up, the expression “bare branches” is used to describe a whole social class of young men without women who, for lack of any sexual or romantic outlet, turn to violence and become revolutionaries and terrorists.

The Irish movie, The Magdalene Sisters portrays a society whose twisted notion of sexuality as sinfulness gave rise to the “Magdalene Laundries.” Ostensibly created as sanctuaries for unwed mothers and “fallen women” these were in reality prison-like establishments marked by brutality and moral corruption in which the nuns had total control over the inmates, punishing them cruelly on the grounds that only this discipline would enable sinners like them to go to Heaven when they die.

These disparate images came to mind after watching TheatreWorks New Milford’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West. The final play in his trilogy about the remote small town of Leenane in Connemara, County Galway, Lonesome West is a somewhat disjointed work in that it mixes uproariously comic scenes with an underlying (and understated) tragic story. What the two halves share in common – the constant bickering between two oafish brothers, and the tentative failure to connect between a spirited school girl and a lonely young priest – is the Irish tendency to use whiskey as a substitute for sex and communication.

Under Richard Pettibone’s direction, Tom Libonate and Bruce Thomson engage in continually escalating verbal and physical conflict as the battling Connor brothers. From the opening scene, on the morning of their father’s funeral, they quarrel over everything from potato chips to religion. Mr Libonate, as Coleman, who is apparently the brighter of the two, needles his brother unmercifully, taunting him over his collection of religious statues carefully arranged on the fireplace mantel. (Like the gun on the wall in Chekov’s The Seagull, it is clear these statues are going to be “fired off” before the play’s end.)

Mr Thomson, as the dim-witted Valene, implacably refuses to share any of his possessions – his whiskey, his potato chips, his stove, his magazine – and each new conflict ends with them rolling around the cottage floor.

There is a real gun hanging over the fireplace, and the story, gradually revealed, of exactly how their father came to die. Explosive tempers and firearms are a bad combination.

Meanwhile Kevin T. Morgan is Father Welsh, an earnest but conflicted priest who drinks too much to ease his sense of failure. Connemara is a beautiful place but the inhabitants are emotionally stunted and mean-spirited, and nothing he does seems to have any affect on their behavior.

His wistful longing for some meaning in his life draws the attention of Girleen Kelleher, who goes from house to house delivering bottles of her father’s homemade “poteen.” In her studded Doc Martins and her short plaid school uniform skirt, Amy Fabish gives a sensitively shaded portrayal of the brash, wise-cracking teenager who finds herself falling in love with Father Welsh, even as she teases him.

Leenane is a dark and lonesome place, where people don’t know how to show love or to find it.  Playwright McDonagh has a great ear for dialogue and a sense of dramatic timing that enables him to make it the subject of black comedy, but the overall impact is one of sadness and waste. It’s not the kind of play that makes you want to take a trip to Galway next summer.

On the other hand, Bill Hughes’ lovingly crafted set, TheatreWorks’ professional quality sound and lighting, and the four excellent performances by the actors, make it well worth a trip to New Milford.

(Performances continue on Friday and Saturday evenings until October 18. There is also a matinee scheduled for Sunday, October 12. All tickets are $15. Call the theater at 860-350-6863 for additional information or reservations.)