Our season commenced with the Boston-area premiere of The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, a hilarious black comedy that was nominated for four Tonys, including Best Play, in 1999.

Valene and Coleman, two brothers living alone in their father's house after his recent death, find it impossible to exist without the most massive and violent disputes over the most mundane and innocent of topics.  Only Father Welsh, the local priest, is prepared to try and reconcile the two before their petty squabblings spiral into vicious and bloody carnage.

"For sheer, stick-in-your-head emotional impact, the current production of Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West by Boston's Súgán Theater Company would be hard to beat…. The blackness of its comedy is a perfect match for the blackness of its rage and of its depression…Colin Hamell as Coleman and Billy Meleady as Valene, the miserly, narrow-minded, anal-compulsive brother, both give performances of outstanding emotional power and honesty… This is not a pleasant play, but it is one of the most searingly funny plays I have seen in some years. And somehow, that is good for the soul" – Jon Lehman, The Patriot Ledger

“Blood is thicker than water. That cliche gets a thorough thrashing in the Súgán Theatre Company's terrific production of Lonesome West… The madness in McDonagh's brutally black comedy should be overwhelming, but instead it's wickedly funny. That's because of the deft balance director Carmel O'Reilly strikes between horror and hilarity, and the understanding that, in families, love is just a hair's breadth away from hate… McDonagh and director O'Reilly understand that the power and danger of this play comes from the blood ties that truly bind these men together” – Terry Byrne, Boston Herald

“few dramatists are better than McDonagh at heating up slow-burning antagonism. The final stand off between the brothers is marvelous…The Lonesome West is McDonagh's deliciously dank vision of Ireland: a family feud gone homicidal” – Bill Marx, WBUR (hear his radio review)

"The Lonesome West… is getting its Boston premiere in a crackling if effectively rain-sodden production by the Súgán Theatre Company. The Súgán production is as sordid as dirty sheets and as jolting as Irish moonshine. Director Carmel O’Reilly shies from neither McDonagh’s black humor nor his cruel worldview" – Carolyn Clay, Boston Phoenix

"Even better than the original Druid Production" – G.L. Horton, Theater Mirror

“The Súgán production ably captures the psychological damage the brothers inflict on each other and creates a wonderful sense of their depressing existence... unflagging laugh riot... you find yourself laughing in spite of yourself” – Ed Siegel, Boston Globe
 
 

Bailegangaire by Tom Murphy
January-February 2002
Directed by Carmel O'Reilly
New England premiere
Cast:  Nancy E. Carroll, Natalie Rose Liberace, and Judith McIntyre
Design:  J. Michael Griggs, Kathy Peter, Sarah Chapman and Julie Pittman

Nancy Carroll, 2002 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress, Small Company

Carmel O'Reilly, 2002 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, Small Company

Mommo is an old woman trapped in the past.  Night after night, in the manner of a storyteller, she begins to relate, but never completes, the story of a laughing competition – the story of Bailegangaire.  Mary, her granddaughter, needs freedom from the past and she urges Mommo to the end of her story, thus liberating them from their tragic past and allowing them to embrace future joy.  Bailegangaire (Balya-gon-goyra), translated from the Gaelic, means The Town Without Laughter. 

This is another remarkable work from Tom Murphy, above, who is widely regarded to be the greatest living Irish playwright. Fellow Irish playwright Brian Friel has said: "the most distinctive, the most restless, the most obsessive imagination at work in the Irish theatre today is Murphy's”. The Súgán Theatre has previously presented his plays, Famine, The Gigli Concert and Conversations on a Homecoming. 

"Rich, difficult and wild, Bailegangaire rewards all the attention it demands. In bringing this Irish wonder, the Súgán offers us a challenging but unforgettable gift... Nancy E. Carroll is virtuosic and riveting.  Her laughter will break your heart" – Louise Kennedy, Boston Globe

"the play has a bleak, purgative beauty that is redemptive... three crack performances... exquisitely written play" – Carolyn Clay, Boston Phoenix

"the production generates jolts of Murphy's disturbing poetic power... a very satisfying production of Bailegangaire, a masterful drama about words as the source of creation and destruction" – Bill Marx, WBUR Radio

"tour de force performance by Boston actress Nancy E. Carroll" – Jon Lehman, Patriot Ledger

"a stirring and sensitive production... Carroll's performance (as Mommo) makes her characters remarkably vivid... Carroll a standout" – Terry Byrne, Boston Herald 
 
 

Molly Maguire by Jon Lipsky
April 2002
Directed by Carmel O'Reilly
World premiere
Cast:  Jennie Israel, Billy Meleady, Paul Patrick Murphy, Liz Robbins, Stacy Rock, Victor Warren, Derry Woodhouse
Design:  J. Michael Griggs, Neil Anderson, Sarah Chapman and Julie Pittman

In the late 19th century in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, an explosion ripped apart the fabric of immigrant society.  Irish miners, fighting against the oppression of the mine owners, were accused of being terrorists and anarchists.  They were spied upon, hunted down, tried and hung for murder.  In the process, neighbor turned against neighbor – informants were everywhere – and loyalties were tested to the breaking point. Molly Maguire chronicles how one family, caught in the middle of the labor wars, is forced to choose between ties of blood and vows of honor.

"one of the highlights of this production is the company's a cappella singing. The songs – in Latin, English and even Gaelic – provide haunting, evocative moments ….the harmonies are gorgeous ... the David and Goliath confrontation sizzles with dramatic power… directed with an intriguing, cinematic perspective”  – Terry Byrne, Boston Herald

"Súgán Theatre's production … about labor strife on the Pennsylvania coalfields over 100 years ago has surprising relevance today … the cast turns in powerful performances without sentimentalizing, the action is powerful, and the sound design commendable.  Another Súgán must-see." – Will Stackman, Aisle Say

"terrific performances ... terrific stage set - timber beams shaping the gaping darkness and the eerie sounds of dripping water - effectively suggest the terrible conditions under which miners worked" – Lauren Byrne, Irish Voice

All of this season's performances took place at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston.
 

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