Mull Theatre’s production of The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh played to great acclaim on Mull last summer, and this year it tours to mainland theatres. This, the third part of McDonagh’s Leenane Trilogy (The Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Skull in Connemara) is said to be his finest so far.

The play is set in a small west Irish community, a place untouched by conventional ideas of civilisation. It revolves around the bitterly hostile relationship between two brothers, Coleman and Valene, where ownership of a bag of crisps becomes a matter of life and death, and revenge is taken on prized possessions and beloved pets. When the conscientious young town priest, Father Welsh, attempts to get them to bury the hatchet, it leads to an orgy of destruction.

Martin McDonagh, one of the most exciting playwrights to emerge in many years, uses surreal, satirical madness in his plays, which have the audience leaving theatres in stitches, but not knowing or feeling too good about why.

Reviews for Mull Theatre’s production of The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh (2004):

“Through hilarious mutual torture and despair, slowburning sexual frustration and general contempt for the law, McCrone’s inspired company sustains the black comedy and dark, bitter backbeat of McDonagh’s drama with an almost perfect sense of mood and pace.”
Joyce McMillan SCOTSMAN

“As sibling rivalry is taken to extremes, the shabby brutality of the brothers' plight becomes a viciously intelligent sitcom… an electrifying, unmissable experience.”
Neil Cooper THE HERALD

For tour dates please see Mull Theatre's website - www.mulltheatre.com