'There's more than one way to skin a theatrical cat; and McDonagh's chosen weapons are laughter and gore. . . Pushing theatre to its limits, McDonagh is making a serious point. . . a work as subversive as those Synge and O'Casey plays that sparked Dublin riots in the last century' Guardian
'A brave satire. . . Swiftianly savage and parodic. . . with explicit brutal actino and lines which sing with grace and wit' Observer
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 his cat more than life itself.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore is a brilliant satire on terrorism, a powerful corrective to the beautification of violence in contemporary culture, and a hilarious farce. It premiered at the RSC's The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in May 2001.
Commentary and notes by Patrick Lonergan
