The Lonesome West

Last night, Brooke and I went to see the Canadian Stage production of Martin McDonagh’s play, The Lonesome West. In short, it is a black comedy about two cartoonish brothers in the west of Ireland. Being from Ireland, I’m always a little sensitive about stuff like this. While an Irish audience might see this as a play about two morons, North American audiences see it as a play about two Irish morons. In an obvious attempt to debunk older stereotypes about the rural Irish (ie. wise, romantic farmers), the playwright has created new ones (drunken, irreligious imbeciles). Both Brooke and I had very mixed reactions to the play. This morning, I found a review online from an Irish critic that pretty clearly nails what I was feeling.

In other news, I’ll be spending a good part of the day today working on the “Compilation Champs” CD for SXSW. If you haven’t already let me know, hit Comments if you’re coming to Austin and would like a copy.