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Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West ran until the 25th of August in the Everyman Theatre, Cork. Directed by Julie Kelleher, it is the final play in McDonagh’s debut Leenane trilogy, but can be enjoyed without having seen the preceding Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Skull in Connemara.  Unsurprisingly, given its title, the play explores issues of loneliness and relationship-building, and -breaking, in typical McDonagh fashion – mixing extremely (and often hilariously) flawed characters with fantastically witty dialogue, palpable loneliness, and tough moral questions.

The play concerns two bickering brothers – Valene (John McCarthy) and Coleman (Gus McDonagh) – in the aftermath of their father’s “accidental” shooting. Fr. Walsh (Andrew Holden), the local priest, tries desperately to reconcile them, while the young Girleen (Amy McElhatton) sells bootlegged poitin and flirts with everyone onstage.

Gus McDonagh’s performance as Coleman is the strongest of the cast. His over-the-top horridness is extremely entertaining to watch and satisfyingly balanced with McCarthy’s pedantry and selfishness.  Their odd-couple banter is entertaining, their dialogue gratifyingly vulgar. A recurring character in the trilogy, Fr. Walsh’s struggles with his misbehaving parishioners and, more compellingly, his intense loneliness as a priest in the West of Ireland form the emotional core of the play.  Unfortunately, Holden’s performance as Fr. Walsh is not terribly convincing, and the priest becomes for the audience an object of tiresome pity rather than compelling empathy.

While Walsh is intended as the soul of the play, Girleen is the play’s heart.  However, the dialogue between these two characters is markedly static, and McElhatton ultimately fails to energise the production in the way that her colourful rave jacket and Dr. Martens promise she will.  

Small details in the set design and lighting (Brian Mitchell is the lighting director), as well as really impressive practical effects  serve as welcome reminders that this is a professional production, even when the performances seem amateurish. The design team, headed by Deirdre Dwyer, have done admirable costume work.  Coleman’s slobbish attire is particularly well-realised. The play is in a similar vein to McDonagh’s In Bruges and The Pillowman, though I was not personally quite as impressed with this version.  It is, however, a very good play (it was nominated for the Tony award for Best Play in 1999) and an interesting look at the early work of one of Ireland’s most important artistic icons; a shame, then, that the production leaves so much to be desired.