Healthy Cripples and Bad Accents

By Courtney Andree | Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Having been sliced from my mother's womb a cripple some 21-years ago, (miraculously cured through the wonders of modern pediatrics and corrective harnesses—no lie), I would expect to be more sympathetic to Martin McDonagh's young protagonist, 'Cripple Billy,' than the average cat. Unfortunately, the ties to my lagging brethren do not extend far past the gimping and hacking figure of Billy Claven (Brett Andrews '09) to excuse the playwright for his more terminal flaws in The Cripple of Inishmaan.

While McDonagh successfully conveys the mythical and timeless qualities which characterized the Irish islands of Aran until recent decades with the bulk of his back story and characterization, the dialogue is incongruously modern in places, and his resurrection of the Connemara accent and aspect from his Leenane trilogy is nothing short of ridiculous. (And seems especially so when attempted by Dartmouth undergraduates.)

McDonagh's inspiration for the tale comes from the real-life visit of American documentary director Robert Flahrety's to the islands in 1934, as he set out to cast his film The Man of Aran. The story is set in motion when the wily town gossip Johnnypateenmike O'Dougal (Aaron Golas '07) comes bearing tales of casting calls and Hollywood to the sheltered youngsters of the village, spurring Cripple Billy to try his luck at filling the 'cripple' role for which Flaherty searches. While the play maintains a level of melodramatic By Courtney Andree

Having been sliced from my mother's womb a cripple some 21-years ago (miraculously cured through the wonders of modern pediatrics and corrective harnesses—no lie) I would expect to be more sympathetic to Martin McDonagh's young protagonist, 'Cripple Billy,' than the average cat. Unfortunately, the ties to my lagging brethren do not extend so far past the gimping and hacking figure of Billy Claven (Brett Andrews '09) to excuse the playwright for his more terminal flaws in The Cripple of Inishmaan.

While McDonagh successfully conveys the mythical and timeless qualities which characterized the Irish islands of Aran until recent decades with the bulk of his back story and characterization, the dialogue is incongruously modern in places, and his resurrection of the Connemara accent and aspect from his Leenane trilogy is nothing short of ridiculous. (And it seems especially so when attempted by Dartmouth undergraduates.)

McDonagh's inspiration for the tale comes from the real-life visit of American documentary director Robert Flahrety to the islands in 1934, as he set out to cast his film The Man of Aran. The story is set in motion when the wily town gossip Johnnypateenmike O'Dougal (Aaron Golas '07) comes bearing tales of casting calls and Hollywood to the sheltered youngsters of the village, spurring Cripple Billy to try his luck at filling the 'cripple' role for which Flaherty searches. While the play maintains a level of melodramatic and self-aware humor throughout, it is infused with a stronger dose of McDonagh's stock darkness than his earlier works. Here we do not find a Hollywood happy ending with Billy capturing Helen's heart and becoming a movie star. After Billy returns from America with his hopes dashed and his health in utter shambles, this gloom becomes especially evident.

Freshman Brett Andrews marks his first appearance on the Dartmouth main stage as Cripple Billy Claven, exuding pathos that is tempered with an ever present spark of humor and hope. At times, I found his oddly 'hart and hale' aspect to be at odds with the consumptive, malformed creature he was supposed to be playing, and was quite aware of the fact that his arm wasn't 'shriveled' or even impeded as it was intended to be. Billy Claven's sweetheart Slippy Helen, played by Olivia Gilliat '08, was every bit as obnoxious, brash, and mean spirited as McDonagh had envisioned, as she pranced about and terrorized the villagers with 'attitude' and cartons of eggs (which she took sick pleasure in cracking over male heads).

But, it was the wonderfully understated performances of Gordon Gray '05 as Babbybobby Bennett, and Hannah Chodos '06 as Aunt Kate, that truly sold me. Here we find the right mix of unobtrusive charm and feeling to relieve the tension headaches that managed to appear out of Helen's bawdy monologues, where she discusses everything from teasing lecherous ministers to a bartering system based on a currency of kisses. An example of this arises when Helen discusses how, "If God be touchin' my arse during choir practice, I'd be pegging him too." Convincing in both his physiognomy and performance, Gray is able to effectively act as the marginal, masculine figure who elicits the interest of Helen and the admiration of Cripple Billy, as he helps the teens travel across the inlet to their casting call.

Chodos is equally effective as Aunt Kate, recovering from her pointedly obnoxious performance this summer in The Heidi Chronicles. Here she plays Billy's slightly fantastical, hilariously muddled, and good hearted 'auntie' who lives and runs the village's general store with her widowed sister Eileen (Katie Farley '09). She is alternately sane and insane as she attempts to cope with life in Inishmaan and finds friends among the stones she speaks to (to the great amusement of the townspeople).

While costumes and props lacked credibility in places, with a fiberglass boat making an appearance on stage as well as an unmistakable J.Crew jacket from two seasons ago, the space was adequately transformed to be visually convincing. The sets were constructed with a creative eye, and an especially pleasing wall of wheat created a rear boundary to the action. What was especially inventive about this production was the silent, black and white film clips that played visually captivating footage during the scene breaks.

Though the Aran accents admittedly sounded Scottish and Japanese alternately, and the claim that the play has no real resolution (or plot for that matter) is true enough, Dartmouth has improved upon McDonagh's work in the ways in which it was capable. I must however counsel the Theater Department to begin choosing works in which accent is less central to the plot.

Healthy Cripples and Bad Accents

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