THEATER REVIEW:’Cripple’ gets GWC’s Irish up

When Irish eyes are smiling, they can salve a good many wounds — a point that Golden West College sets about proving in its latest production, “The Cripple of Inishmaan.”

It’s not the best of times in the back country of 1934 Ireland, where news travels slowly, if at all. Seems there’s a fellow name of Hitler taking power in Germany who “seems like a nice enough chap, but that’s sure an odd-looking mustache.”

In this remote corner of Ireland’s Aran Islands, playwright Martin McDonagh has assembled a quirky contingent of assorted eccentrics, from the spinster lady who talks to stones to the old crone in her 90s who’s trying to drink herself into oblivion. But his spotlight falls on the youngest of the lot, the crippled Billy, who’s searching for a better life.

He seizes his chance when an American movie director brings his film crew to a neighboring island to shoot a shark-themed epic. How this intrusion affects the simple lives of the people of Inishmaan is the crux of McDonagh’s tall tale.

Director Tom Amen has mounted an infectious and appealing production that brews all these goofy characters into an eclectic ensemble. They may not be particularly nice to one another — like breaking eggs on, or bouncing rocks off, other characters’ heads — but it’s all done with a sly sense of humor.

None of these people enjoys an easy life, but it’s Billy (David Steen) who endures the most physical and mental torment, yet maintains a perky smile and hopeful attitude. Steen is captivating as the young man who lost both his parents to the sea as a lad and now yearns to start enjoying life’s experiences.

He’s been raised by a pair of storekeeping maiden aunts: the authoritarian Eileen (Kim Brown) and the dotty Kate (Emma Ryan), who chats with rocks when things get dicey. Both employ rich Irish accents (veteran Golden West actress Renata Florin serves as dialogue coach), and Brown especially displays little patience with hesitant patrons, while Ryan seems quite content in her own private world.

Michael Bielitz, who’s somewhat of a fixture at Golden West, revels in the role of the town gossip monger, a garrulous old snoop who trades his “pieces of news” for store handouts. A.K. Zeller could toughen his approach as the town bully, whose final act seems somehow extreme and out of place, even for such a menacing lout.

Two store patrons — the brother and sister pair of steely Helen (Courtney Marie Barr) and her addled brother Bartley (Robert Ferreras) — add some fine comic spice to the mixture. Barr has the look of a siren and the mouth of a sailor, and she uses both to high advantage, while Ferreras scores comically as a maddeningly hesitant candy connoisseur who doubles as his sister’s personal punching bag.

These performers, along with Bruce Alexander as a crusty doctor, fit comfortably into set designer Sigrid Hammer Wolf’s impressive and immaculate rustic backdrop. Susan Thomas Babb’s authentic-seeming period costumes further enrich the production, as does the lighting of Robert Mumm and Scott Steidinger’s lilting Irish musical score.

“The Cripple of Inishmaan” captures the colorful spirit of the rural Irish people in a splendidly mounted production that offers its audiences a fine reason for early celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.