The Lieutenant of Inishmore in LA

Somehow, 12 hours on planes to spend 18 hours in LA to see Chris Pine on stage is becoming an annual event, and well worth the journey.  Not only do I get to hang out in Westwood Village (which is quaint and adorable and quickly becoming one of my favorite places), and eat at In-N-Out Burger, but I also get to see one of my favorite actors and celeb crushes do what he does best.  As amazing as Pine is as Captain Kirk 2.0 in Star Trek, he is even more potent on stage.  Last year he absolutely killed it in Farragut North at the Geffen, and this year he graced the stage at the Mark Taper Forum (right next to the famed Dorothy Chandler Pavilion) as Padriac in the Center Theatre Group's production of Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

I am a great fan of McDonagh's work, especially In Bruges and The Cripple of Inishmaan.  However, earlier this year, I felt a bit let down by A Behanding in Spokane, which, while clever, seemed to be leaning more toward obscene shock-value rather than intellectually twisted word-play and mind games. Unfortunately I feel that Lieutenant has more in common with Behanding than with Inishmaan, which is a shame.  This is not to say that Lieutenant doesn't have its moments, because it most certainly does (several of them involving dead cats).  And perhaps if it were performed by an Irish cast, as was the production of Inishmaan that I saw, those moments would have been more redolent.  The sly absurdity that is one of McDonagh's trademarks is certainly present, but it's not as refined as it is in In Bruges or Inishmaan.

As it was, Mr. Pine's performance as Padriac was good, but not great.  While his performance was robust and entertaining, hitting the right comic notes when called for, it was nowhere near the level of his turn in Farragut North.  Knowing that he is capable of reaching such great heights, it is a bit of a disappointment to watch him fall short of the bar he set for himself with Farragut. Perhaps his performance was hindered, or at least my view of it colored, by a spotty Irish accent delivered with a timbre and tone different from his usual speaking/performance voice.  As I mentioned perviously, I think an Irish cast could have made a great difference in the production value. McDonagh's plays reflect such a precise cultural sensibility that a performance of his work benefits from actors who can more closely relate to that zeitgeist. However, I must note that the set design and stage management of this production were top notch. Kudos to the design team for their very hard and detailed work.  All in all, Lieutenant is not a bad piece of theatre, but one which I felt was capable of meeting my high expectations, yet fell just short of doing so.