The Cripple of Inishmaan | The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

Annenberg Center Live, which has presented major Irish theater companies such as the Abbey Theatre and the Gate Theatre, brought Ireland's Druid Theatre of rural Galway to Philadelphia for a week-long engagement of its production of Obie Award and Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan. McDonagh is a master storyteller, known for startling, savage humor, also evident in his other plays and in his films In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. The Cripple of Inishmaan—a less violent, more whimsical play than his others—features a deformed orphan from a barren Irish island who seeks fame by screen-testing for a movie being filmed on Inishmore, a nearby island.

Garry Hines, Druid's founding artistic director, originally discovered and produced McDonagh's work and directed this touring production. Druid Theatre, founded in 1979, is committed to presenting new work, especially that of Irish playwrights. The company tours actively, particularly throughout Ireland. The Cripple of Inishmaan marked the company's first performance in Philadelphia.

Click here to watch a preview of the Druid's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan.