Airdate: 7/23/10, 2:30 – 3:00 pm

GUESTS:

LT. OF INISHMORE, by Martin McDonagh

Cast Members:

Sean Griffin (Danny)

Coby Getzug (Davey)

Harry Burton, filmmaker

Working with Harold Pinter, doc

Screened at Calif. Intl. Theatre Festival

Sean Griffin (Danny) and Coby Getzug (Davey), cast members from the Mark Taper Forum production of “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” talk about the play, the gore, the horror and absurd hilarity of the outrageous play by celebrated Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, author of “Beauty Queen of Leenane,” and “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” and the screenplay for “In Bruges.”  Says McDonagh, “Having grown up a Catholic and, to a certain degree, a Republican, McDonagh noted in 201, I thought I should tackle the problems on my own side.  I chose the INLA because they seemed so extreme.  Padraic, the drama’s terrifyingly absurd protagonist described as “too mad” for the IRA, embodies perfectly the INLA’s psychopathic tendencies.”  In the best tradition of cathartic Greek drama, “Lieutenant of Inishmore” is not for the squeamish.  A tale of a terrorists, the “troubles” of good Irish folk, and a cat named “Wee Thomas,” it sticks to the psyche and gets into the blood, literally.

In the second half, filmmaker Harry Burton talks about his extraordinary film “Working with Pinter,” which screened as part of the International California Theater Festival, in which world-renowned playwright Harold Pinter and his long-time collaborator Henry Wolf share anecdotal pearls of wisdom on the craft of acting, directing and the Pinteresque.  As actors perform scenes from Pinter’s works, we receive a rare glimpse into the working process and mind of one of the world’s greatest, most influential playwrights, Nobel Prize winner and activist, Harold Pinter.  With humor and insight, this moving portrait touches us through his art and politics.

Copies of this show can be ordered through the Pacifica Radio Archives at www.kpfk.org