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Man with a mission
"Behanding in Spokane' by Theatre Exile
Steve Cohen
Carmichael is a man on a mission: specifically, his 27-year search for a valuable piece of personal property— precisely, his hand, which was amputated and stolen by thugs when Carmichael was a teenager.
Carmichael is clearly obsessed, but he's no nut. Nor does he convey the low-class stupidity of many of the Irish playwright McDonagh's previous protagonists.
McDonagh's leading men are almost all uneducated, even when they're somewhat loveable, like Coleman in The Lonesome West, who's interested only in eating and attending funerals to collect free sausage rolls; "Cripple" Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan, who hopes to get a job in movies to escape the boredom of his existence; Roy, the slow-on-the-uptake hit man of In Bruges; and the sadistic Padraic in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, who spends his time pulling out the toenails of Belfast drug pushers.
Carmichael, by contrast, is troubled, yes, but also rational, erudite and clear-minded.
A Behanding in Spokane combines McDonagh's trademark violence and humor. It's a 90-mnute play that requires great performances to succeed. Fortunately, Theatre Exile provided them.
Pearce Bunting especially grabbed my attention with his intense performance as Carmichael. His humanity and his intelligence gave substance to what, in lesser hands (no pun intended), might be a freak show.
Behanding, the Irish playwright's first work set in America, opened on Broadway in 2010. It fails to sufficiently capture an essence of America, relying instead on the familiar crutches of racism and drug dealing. Behanding, really, has no sub-plot and fewer story developments than other McDonagh plays and movies. It does, however, present wonderful opportunities for performers.
The hotel clerk, well played by Matt Pfeiffer, inhabits a world of his own and appears to have less of a grip on rationality than Carmichael. He provides a wacky unpredictability that adds suspense to the play.
A pair of drug dealers who get involved with a scam that's over their heads are wonderfully played by Amanda Schoonover, who remains effervescently young despite her long list of credits, and a new face (at least to me), Reuben Mitchell.
Joe Canuso directs sure-footedly with a deliberate pace that accentuates the script's tension.
Some critics have complained about the play's outrageous violence, but that's like saying O'Neill should avoid melancholy or Shakespeare should eschew soliloquies. Gore is McDonagh's currency.
Carmichael is clearly obsessed, but he's no nut. Nor does he convey the low-class stupidity of many of the Irish playwright McDonagh's previous protagonists.
McDonagh's leading men are almost all uneducated, even when they're somewhat loveable, like Coleman in The Lonesome West, who's interested only in eating and attending funerals to collect free sausage rolls; "Cripple" Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan, who hopes to get a job in movies to escape the boredom of his existence; Roy, the slow-on-the-uptake hit man of In Bruges; and the sadistic Padraic in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, who spends his time pulling out the toenails of Belfast drug pushers.
Carmichael, by contrast, is troubled, yes, but also rational, erudite and clear-minded.
A Behanding in Spokane combines McDonagh's trademark violence and humor. It's a 90-mnute play that requires great performances to succeed. Fortunately, Theatre Exile provided them.
Pearce Bunting especially grabbed my attention with his intense performance as Carmichael. His humanity and his intelligence gave substance to what, in lesser hands (no pun intended), might be a freak show.
Behanding, the Irish playwright's first work set in America, opened on Broadway in 2010. It fails to sufficiently capture an essence of America, relying instead on the familiar crutches of racism and drug dealing. Behanding, really, has no sub-plot and fewer story developments than other McDonagh plays and movies. It does, however, present wonderful opportunities for performers.
The hotel clerk, well played by Matt Pfeiffer, inhabits a world of his own and appears to have less of a grip on rationality than Carmichael. He provides a wacky unpredictability that adds suspense to the play.
A pair of drug dealers who get involved with a scam that's over their heads are wonderfully played by Amanda Schoonover, who remains effervescently young despite her long list of credits, and a new face (at least to me), Reuben Mitchell.
Joe Canuso directs sure-footedly with a deliberate pace that accentuates the script's tension.
Some critics have complained about the play's outrageous violence, but that's like saying O'Neill should avoid melancholy or Shakespeare should eschew soliloquies. Gore is McDonagh's currency.
What, When, Where
A Behanding in Spokane. By Martin McDonagh; directed by Joe Canuso. Theatre Exile production through May 13, 2012 at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St. (between Front and Second). (215) 218-4022 or www.theatreexile.org.
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