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In 1934, the people of Inishmaan learn that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island to film his documentary Man of Aran . No one is more excited than Billy, an unloved and crippled boy whose chief occupation has been gazing at cows and yearning for a girl who wants no part of him. For Billy is determined to cross the sea and audition for the Yank. As news of his audacity ripples through his rumour-starved community, The Cripple of Inishmaan becomes a merciless portrayal of a world so comically cramped and mean-spirited that hope is an affront to its order. With this bleak yet uproariously funny play, Martin McDonagh fulfilled the promise of his award-winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane while confirming his place in a tradition that extends from Synge to O'Casey and Brendan Behan.
About the author
Martin McDonagh is a Tony- and Oscar-winning scriptwriter whose first play
, The Beauty Queen of Leenane. was the 1996 winner of the George Devine Award; the Writer's Guild Award for Best Fringe Play; the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer; four Tonys; and the Laurence Olivier Award.
Since then McDonagh has gone on to write multiple smash-hit shows and films, and to win multiple awards including an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film for
Six Shooter (2005), an Oscar nomination, a British Independent Film Award for best screenplay, an Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild Award for Best Film Script, and a BAFTA for best original screenplay, all for
In Bruges (starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, 2008), and a Laurence Olivier award for Best New Play for
The Pillowman (won 2004).
