Wylie High School Theatre presented The Cripple of Inishmaan to the public on January 18, 20, and 21. The casting differed upon which night it was seen. This dark play was written by Martin McDonagh as a book, then transformed into a play. At first, the play was not seen as an accurate portrayal of Irish life due to the fact McDonagh was from London. We can see that eventually this discrepancy was overcome because in 2014, the Broadway production earned six Tony Award nominations.

The story was set in the year 1934 in a community named Inishmaan. Cripple Billy Claven, portrayed by Corban Gilliland, is the main character. His parents killed themselves when he was a baby, and Billy thought it was due to his disabilities. With his parents gone, Billy was forced to live with his two aunts Eileen Osbourne and Kate Osbourne. When he learns of a movie being filmed about Inishmaan, he asks Babbybobby for transportation to America. Babbybobby declines until Billy shows him a letter from his doctor claiming he has Tuberculosis, which is the same disease Babbybobby’s wife died from. Billy goes to America and performs a screen test for the filmmakers. When he arrives back home to Inishmaan, Johnny Pateen, the local news writer, informs the depressed Billy that his parents killed themselves for the life insurance money to go to his medical bills. When his aunt thinks he is gone, Billy overhears them talk about the real reason his parents died; they were trying to drown Billy, but Johnny Pateen caught them and saved Billy causing them to drown themselves. After learning this information, Billy tries to kill himself but is saved by his long-time crush, Helen, offering to go on a walk with him. In the final scene, Billy coughs up blood, revealing he is going to die anyway from Tuberculosis.

The Wylie High School Theatre did an amazing job performing this play with director Christopher Shoemake leading them to success. The set crew, stage manager, and light board operator’s hard work was evident in the play as well as the props. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend any future plays produced by our hard-working students.