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The Lonesome West
About this book
This Student Edition features expert and helpful annotation, including a scene-by-scene summary, a detailed commentary on the dramatic, social and political context, and on the themes, characters, language and structure of the play, as well a list of suggested reading and questions for further study and a review of performance history.
The Lonesome West was first presented as a Druid Theatre company and Royal Court co-production in the summer of 1997, and is the final part of McDonagh's Leenane trilogy.
This edition explores the play's substantial themes and textured controversy, which make it such a popular choice to study: the Catholic Church is exposed as irrelevant and powerless and the characters have a dangerously skewed sense of morality. The text is full of McDonagh's characteristic combination of farce, aggression and wit. The plot follows two brothers, Valene and Coleman, living alone in their father's house after his recent death. They find it impossible to exist without massive and violent disputes over the most mundane and innocent of topics. Only Father Welsh, the local young priest, is prepared to try to reconcile the two before their petty squabblings spiral into vicious and bloody carnage.
Martin McDonagh is the most controversial Irish dramatist working today, with his explorations of Irish national identity which look at the darker side of provincial life. His bleak but blackly comic portrayal of modern, rural Ireland courts debate with its dark farce, caricatures of violence and barbarism and an exaggerated, poeticised dialect of Hiberno-English.
The Lonesome West was first presented as a Druid Theatre company and Royal Court co-production in the summer of 1997, and is the final part of McDonagh's Leenane trilogy.
This edition explores the play's substantial themes and textured controversy, which make it such a popular choice to study: the Catholic Church is exposed as irrelevant and powerless and the characters have a dangerously skewed sense of morality. The text is full of McDonagh's characteristic combination of farce, aggression and wit. The plot follows two brothers, Valene and Coleman, living alone in their father's house after his recent death. They find it impossible to exist without massive and violent disputes over the most mundane and innocent of topics. Only Father Welsh, the local young priest, is prepared to try to reconcile the two before their petty squabblings spiral into vicious and bloody carnage.
Martin McDonagh is the most controversial Irish dramatist working today, with his explorations of Irish national identity which look at the darker side of provincial life. His bleak but blackly comic portrayal of modern, rural Ireland courts debate with its dark farce, caricatures of violence and barbarism and an exaggerated, poeticised dialect of Hiberno-English.
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Information
Valene
(
pause
)
Isn’t
it
sad
about
him?
Coleman
It
is
sad.
Very
sad.
Valene
(
pause
)
Will
we
be
trying
for
ourselves?
To
get
along,
now?
Coleman
We
will.
Valene
There’s
no
harm
in
trying.
Coleman
No
harm
at
all,
sure.
Valene
(
pause
)
Poor
Father
Welsh
Walsh
Welsh.
Coleman
Welsh.
Valene
Welsh.
(
Pause.
)
I
wonder
why
he
did
it?
Coleman
I
suppose
he
must’ve
been
upset
o’er
something.
Valene
I
suppose.
(
Pause.
)
This
is
a
pricey
chain.
(
Pause.
)
We’ll
be
giving
it
back
to
her
next
time
we
see
her.
She’s
only
shocked
now.
Coleman
Aye.
She’s
not
in
her
right
mind
at
all.
She
did
hurt
me
hair
when
she
tugged
at
it
too,
d’you
know?
Valene
It
did
look
like
it
hurt.
Coleman
It
did
hurt.
Valene
(
pause
)
Father
Welsh
going
topping
himself
does
put
arging
o’er
Taytos
into
perspective
anyways.
Coleman
It
does.
Valene
Eh?
Coleman
It
does.
Valene
Aye.
Awful
perspective.
Awful
perspective.
Coleman
(
pause
)
Did
you
see
‘Roderick’
his
name
is?
Valene
(
snorts
)
I
did.
Coleman
(
pause.
Seriously
)
We
shouldn’t
laugh.
Valene
nods.
Both
pull
serious
faces.
Blackout.
54
The
Lonesome
West
Table of contents
- Cover
- The Lonesome West
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Yes, you can access The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Littérature & Théâtre britannique. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.