The Cripple of Inishmaan

There is a good reason for branding. Once you are safe with the brand you know if you buy it you will get quality, without needing to check out every item. So with the Michael Brandage season at the Noel Coward theatre. A dark comedy about an orphaned cripple in the West of Ireland doesn't sound promising, but just trust the brand.

The other selling point of this production is the starring role for Daniel Radcliffe as the cripple. I can't deny that one of the reasons I went was to see how well the young man can act. Its rather like seeing a live band. You can't hide behind pre-recording.

But the thing is that Daniel doesn't really have the biggest role. Indeed this is a very even piece across a number of characters in the play. None of this is meant as criticism, but rather to say that there are many more reasons to go and see this piece. Its not just to turn up to see a "name" perform. Its to see a whole performance, and a play which is both sad and hilarious. Set in a Godforsaken island off the coast of Ireland where the only thing to do is gossip, our hero is  a crippled lad who wants to have a shot at stardom when he hears that some Americans are filming on a neighbouring island. We see none of that - this is a very domestic piece, mostly set in the village shop run by the two elderly ladies who have brought up the boy after his parents died in mysterious circumstances. In many ways the play is about insularity and the smallness of their lives. Their is a storyline, and the ending is both happy (by gets pretty girl) and sad (he has probably contracted TB), which somehow suits the play. Not a simple drama, nor a slapstick comedy.

And yes Daniel can act fine, as can the rest of the cast. His Irish accent doesn't grate at all. Perhaps the only oddity is to cast Daniel, a handsome young man by any standards, in a role where his guardians describe his unfortunate ugliness.