The Cripple Of Inishmaan at Ephrata Performing Arts Center

"The Cripple of Inishmaan" is a dark yet surprisingly touching comedy-drama by Martin McDonagh. Witness a remote Irish village in the 1930s in which everyone goes a little crazy — and they’re rather crazy under normal circumstances — when they hear that filmmakers from Hollywood will be making a movie in their town. The play is set on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan off the western coast of Ireland in 1934, where the inhabitants are excited to learn of a Hollywood film crew's arrival in neighboring Inishmore to make a documentary about life on the islands. "Cripple" Billy Claven, eager to escape the gossip, poverty, and boredom of Inishmaan, vies for a part in the film; and to everyone's surprise, the orphan and outcast gets his chance . . . or so some believe. The Cripple of Inishmaan is a major play from one of our best modern playwrights. Sweet and sentimental as well as dark and brooding, it is as sweet and savory as a hearty Irish stew.