Two Great Plays. Two Great Theatres. One Great Playwright.
Two of Martin McDonagh plays running in Montreal right now
Fans of playwright Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane) will be pleased to know that there are not one but two of his plays running in Montreal right now, one in English and one in French. And seeing one will get you a discount to see the other.
At the Segal Centre, theatregoers can catch Les Productions Temenos’ staging of McDonagh’s Tony Award-nominated play The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Oxymoronically described as a “bone-chilling comedy,” it’s the story of an Irish terrorist who’s gone off the deep end, and is out for blood over the murder of one Wee Thomas… his cat.
Meanwhile, at Theatre du Rideau Vert, fans of McDonagh’s work can take in a French translation of his play Le Pillowman, also nominated for a Tony. A production of Theatre de la Manufacture, this one would make Kafka proud. It’s the story, set in an unnamed totalitarian state, of a writer whose work bears far too close a resemblance to reality, and as such, the police would very much like to speak with him. It turns out that a series of child murders might have been inspired, as it were, by his stories. And in an adjacent interrogation room, unbeknownst to him, sits his intellectually challenged brother.
Present the ticket stub from one play, and you get a 10% discount on the other. It’s a good deal if you consider the calibre of McDonagh’s work, and the added bonus of having live theatre bridge Montreal’s traditional linguistic divide.
Montrealers may remember McDonagh’s work making quite a splash here with a well-received and critically-acclaimed staging of his The Beauty Queen of Leenane some years ago and The Centaur Theatre.
The Segal Centre had quite a facelift a few years back. The Lieutenant of Inishmore is being presented in their second theatre, Le Studio, a 177-seat room with moveable seats and walls that, in a pinch, can be moved to enlarge the space from theatre to dance studio, reception hall, cocktail and jazz bar, etc. It’s a nice, intimate setting that brings the audience up close to the action on stage.
Theatre du Rideau Vert has been around since 1949. They’ve gone from older, more traditional fare to modern, having staged Shakespeare in the language of Moliere, Moliere in the language of Moliere, and breaking ground with the premiere of a Michel Tremblay’s Les Belles Soeurs in 1968.
Two great plays. Two great theatres. One great playwright.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Segal Centre. Tickets $22 / $17. 514-739-7944
Le Pillowman, Theatre du Rideau Vert. Tickets $33.31 / $28.26 / $25.24. 514-845-0267
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Le Pillowman
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