Reader Reviews
The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Garrick Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Beautifully produced. It is the best show I have seen since Kathleen Turner in 'The Graduate'. London has not seen as well written as play for many years. It will be missed when it closes next month. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 25 Oct 02 |
| Yes, the reviews are absolutely spot-on: you've never seen anything like this on the West End stage! In fact, not since Medea have I gone to a theatre with such a real feeling of apprehension. During the course of the play, you are amused, horrified, disgusted and appalled in equal measure and when the lights go up on one scene, you can't believe what you're watching. Writer Martin McDonagh succeeds in making us learn by making us laugh at the most inappropriate references... and the ending is a masterstroke. Recommended - certainly while the £10 offer is on - but don't expect a comfortable evening. It's not for the faint-hearted and think carefully about taking along little Johnny. "Chitty", this ain't, and I was surprised to see some really young kids in the audience. Andrew B - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 20 Aug 02 |
| Do enjoy the production but don't believe the hype - the play is good but not as cutting edge as I'd been led to believe, and there are quite a few flat patches. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 05 Jul 02 |
| Very black, very gruesome, very funny. Not for the faint hearted or cat lovers. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 27 Jun 02 |
| I just saw the play on Tuesday at the Garrick and was a little bit disturbed mainly for the fact that the gore was a little too much for me. If you can't handle blood and body parts, I wouldn't recommend anyone seeing it if they are squimish. On the other hand, this dark comedy had quite a lot of humerous points as well. The character of Davey completely made the play with his witty comical lines. Overall, the humor of the play was great, but the gore factor was a little too much for me to stomach! - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 27 Jun 02 |
| As with most plays that are heavily hyped, The Lieutenant of Inishmore doesn't quite live up to expectations. Deep and meaningful it ain't, but in terms of pure entertainment value, it works well on most fronts. The acting is above average, the script and language robustly down to earth. Where it comes into is own is the way it blends everyday life with mindless violence in such a frighteningly funny way. And as for the ending.......!!! - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 26 Jun 02 |
| Scorchingly funny and well written script, decent performances and near-perfect direction (plus lots of REALLY bloody violence - cat lovers beware) make this one of the best evenings out at the London theatre IMHO. Roll on [good] new plays! - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 25 Jun 02 |
| I couldnt cope with it! made me feel very queesy!! Wasnt mad keen on the actual play itself, but the blood and gore in act 2 was just horrendous. I wouldnt reccomend it! - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 14 May 02 |
| "The Lieutenant Of Inishmore" starts at the Garrick next month and is really recommended. I saw it at the Barbican earlier this year and was blown away by the writing.. It does the hard trick of managing to be incredibly funny but also brutally nasty at the same time - one of the few plays I have seen that fully deserved it's warnings about content. I am not sure if the final few shocking scenes will work quite as well to the stalls at the Garrick - in The Pit everyone either was dead level with the stage or above it. Would perhaps recommend the Circle to get the full effect. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 13 May 02 |
