I’m going to give you some of the best advice you will receive in the next couple of weeks: don’t eat before you see “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” at Water Tower Theatre.
If you’re prone to queasiness or blood makes you squirm, you might skip the show altogether, but then you won’t experience one of the more exhilarating shows to hit Dallas theater this season.
Martin McDonagh’s black Irish comedy lends itself to a warlike atmosphere that Water Tower has fully inhabited with an intense, seamless combination of special effects, set and sound design. The plot is centered on a revolutionary named Padraic (Matt Moore), who has questionably violent methods and a cat named Wee Thomas.
The audience meets Wee Thomas in the first scene when Padraic’s father Donny (Jason Kane) and his teenage neighbor Davey (Tony Dausset) stand over the mangled body of the feline. In the next scene, Padraic is torturing a drug dealer when he is interrupted by his father’s phone call about Wee Thomas’ health problems.
The rest of the play only gets bloodier and bloodier. And as Davey says, with bodies piling up around him, “worse and worse and worse this story gets.”
Even the one female in this play, Davey’s sister Mairead (Kayla Carlyle), carries a gun she isn’t afraid to use. Unfortunately, Carlyle doesn’t bring the necessary energy to her part, and her performance of the rebellious teenager who’s hopelessly in love with Padraic doesn’t do justice to the accidental heroine. The rest of the cast is strong, adding to the enjoyment of a delightfully grotesque story.
If you remember the 2008 movie “In Bruges” and could understand the thick Irish accents enough to enjoy it, you’ll recognize a similar sense of humor, because that was also Martin McDonagh. If you cannot tread through the dialect, there’s no need to fear this production, because only about 50 percent of the cast’s Irish delivery is on point.
This is a small complaint about what is overall an excellent production, capturing the harsh Irish countryside with entertaining dialogue and the coolest special effects in town thanks to Steve Tolin. Just be wary if you’re faint of heart because this is not a play for wimps.
“The Lieutenant of Inishmore” runs through Feb. 6.
For more information visit watertowertheatre.org.
