Michael Grandage Company has today announced the full, all-Irish cast for its upcoming revival of Martin McDonagh‘s 2001 black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which is directed by Grandage and runs at the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre from 23 June to 8 September 2018, with a press night on 4 July.
Joining the previously announced Poldark star Aidan Turner (as Padraic) completing are Denis Conway(Donny), Will Irvine (Christy), Brian Martin (James), Daryl McCormack (Brendan) Julian Moore-Cook (Joey), Charlie Murphy (Mairead), and Chris Walley (Davey).
This latest foray by Grandage into McDonagh’s Inishmore trilogy follows his award-winning production, at the same address in 2013, of The Cripple of Inishmaan, which later transferred to Broadway. Aidan Turner stars as Mad Padraic, a terrorist deemed too violent to be a member of the IRA. The play, which premiered at the RSC in 2001, is a brilliant satire on terrorism, an acute observation of violence in contemporary culture and a hilarious farce.
Who knocked Mad Padraic’s cat over on a lonely road on the island of Inishmore and was it an accident? He’ll want to know when he gets back from a stint of torture and chip-shop bombing in Northern Ireland: he loves that cat more than life itself.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore joins Grandage’s production of John Logan’s Red with Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch in the West End. Red runs around the corner the Wyndham’s Theatre 4 May to 28 July 2018, with a press night on 15 May. The plays have over 40,000 seats at just £10 – 25% of the total capacity, continuing the company’s unique access policy and its commitment to developing new audiences.
Bios
Martin McDonagh is an award-winning writer and director. His plays are The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Pillowman, A Behanding in Spokane, Hangmen and the upcoming A Very Very Very Dark Matter. As a writer and director for film his credits are Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges, Six Shooter as well as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – which won four Golden Globes including Best Drama Motion Picture and Best Screenplay of a Motion Picture, and Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and was the closing film at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
Denis Conway plays Donny. His theatre work includes The Death of Harry Leon, Myrmidons, Making History (Ouroboros Theatre Company), Wallenstein (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Walworth Farce (Druid Theatre and National Theatre), and Homelands, The Recruiting Officer, A Cry from Heaven and The Wild Duck (Abbey Theatre, Dublin). His television work includes Single Handed, The Running Mate, Hide and Seek, Showbands, The Clinic and The Return; and for film, Garage, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Tiger’s Tail, Alexander the Great, Borstal Boy and Michael Collins.
Will Irvine plays Christy. His recent theatre work includes End Of (Dublin Fringe), Lady Chatterley’s Lover (ETT), Inkheart, Angel Meadow (Home), The Nether (Royal Court Theatre & Headlong) and Pentecost (Lyric Theatre Belfast). His television work includes Will, Centenary, Legends, Charlie, Vikings, Titanic: Blood and Steel, The Clinic and The Tudors; and for film, Dublin Old School, Born a King, The Current War, Maze and The Alarms.
Brian Martin plays James. For Shakespeare’s Globe his work includes Boudica, The Merchant of Venice (also national and international tour), Sunday Sonnets and Titus Andronicus. His other theatre work includes Snapshot (Hope Theatre), Damned by Despair, Juno and the Paycock (National Theatre), Stars in the Morning Sky (Belgrade Theatre Coventry) and The Wake and Macbeth (Abbey Theatre).
Daryl McCormack plays Brendan. His theatre work includes The Voice Factor X (New Dublin Theatre), Enjoy (Rough Magic), Othello (Theatre Royal), Romeo and Juliet(Gate Theatre Dublin) and The Grapes of Wrath (Project Arts Centre). For television, his work includes A Very English Scandal, Immortality, Dawn, Fair City and Vikings; and for film, A Good Woman is Hard to Find and The Randomer.
Julian Moore-Cook plays Joey. His theatre work includes Mother Courage and Her Children (Southwark Playhouse), Three Sisters (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Rolling Stone(Orange Tree Theatre), Twelfth Night (Iris Theatre), Obamamerica (Theatre503), Our American Cousin (Finborough Theatre) and Beyond Caring (The Yard Theatre). His television work includes Benidorm (as series regular Callum) and 24: Die Another Day; and for film, Mission Impossible 5.
Charlie Murphy plays Mairead. Her theatre work includes Arlington (St Ann’s Warehouse and Galway International Arts Festival), Big Maggie (Druid Theatre), Disco Pigs(Young Vic), Pygmalion (National Theatre of Ireland – Best Actress Irish Times Theatre Award), The Silver Tassie (Druid Theatre and Lincoln Center) and The Colleen Bawnand This is Our Youth (Bedrock Theatre). For television, her work includes Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley, Rebellion, To Walk Invisible, The Last Kingdom, The Village, Quirke, Ripper Street, Misfits and Love/Hate for which she twice won the Best Actress Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards; and for film, Dark Lies the Island, The Foreigner, ’71, Northmen – A Viking Saga and Philomena.
Aidan Turner plays Padraic. His theatre work includes The Plough and The Stars, Romeo and Juliet and A Cry from Heaven (Abbey Theatre Dublin), Cyrano and Titus Andronicus (Project Arts Centre). For television, his work includes The Clinic, Being Human, Desperate Romantics, Hattie and as the title role in Poldark, now in its 4th series; and for film, The Hobbit trilogy of films, The Mortal Instruments, The Secret Scripture, Loving Vincent and the forthcoming Look Away and The Man Who Killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot. He was named GQ Actor of the Year for 2016 and Radio Times’s Most Popular UK Actor in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Chris Walley plays Davey. This production marks Walley’s professional stage debut, following training at RADA. His film work includes The Young Offenders.
