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Theater Mon Mar 03 2014
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy to Open Martin McDonagh's A Behanding in Spokane
Martin McDonagh's dark comedy, A Behanding in Spokane, will open at Chemically Imbalanced Comedy (CIC) at 8pm Friday, March 7.
The play tells the story of Carmichael, a man who has been searching for his missing hand ever since a bunch of hooligans caused it to be lopped off by a railroad train in his childhood. Twenty-seven years later, he arrives at a hotel in an unidentified town and meets a couple who have a hand to sell.
This is McDonagh's first play set in the US. His work usually features Irish characters and settings, such as Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan and Lonesome West. As one critic put it, McDonagh "seemed to scrape his sentences off the cruddy cobblestones of his parents' bleak, rural West of Ireland." He has written and produced two films (In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths) set in Belgium and the US.
McDonagh's scripts are often violent, funny and vulgar. A Behanding has been criticized for its repeated use of the word "nigger."
Sarah Borer, CIC's managing director, directs A Behanding in Spokane. She has stage-managed dozens of CIC shows, and has also worked with The Women's Theatre Alliance, The Rebekah Theatre Project, Black Elephant Theatre and Oil Lamp Theatre.
Cast members are Caleb Fullen, Jimmy Pennington, Elise Spoerlein and John Thibodeaux. The set is designed by Nick Quinn, with costumes by DJ Reed. Bruce Deviller is stage manager.
A Behanding in Spokane runs at CIC Theater, 1422 W. Irving Park Rd., at 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, March 7 through April 26. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online. For more information, call 773-865-7731.
Photo courtesy of Chemically Imbalanced Comedy.
