The Lieutenant of Inishmore
A Black Comedy set during The Troubles by Martin McDonagh, author of In Bruges. It tells the story of insane INLA member Padraic who returns home to check on the welfare of his beloved cat Wee Thomas. Wee Thomas is, among the number of things which will make Padraic go on a murderous rampage, Padraic's best friend in the world for fifteen years. Wee Thomas has also just met an unfortunate end through mysterious circumstances. So naturally, Carnage Ensues. What follows is a superbly hilarious and violent comedy.
Tropes used in The Lieutenant of Inishmore include:
- A-Cup Angst: Mairead.
- Ax Crazy: Padraic and to a lesser extent Mairead
- Black and Grey Morality: Running headlong into Black and Black Morality.
- Bloody Hilarious: You may find yourself watching the second half of Act II through your fingers while laughing nervously the entire time
- Cleanup Crew
- Cluster F-Bomb: Only the word used here is "feck."
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Several instances conducted by Padraic
- Dead Pet Sketch
- Deadpan Snarker: When Davey and Donny aren't afraid for their lives, they can snark with the best of them. For example: Padraic and Mairead will be married -- when Ireland is free! Says Davey, "That'll be a feckin' long engagement."
- Downer Ending
- Even Evil Has Standards: Kind of subverted, in that while being against selling drug to children is a typical villain Pet the Dog, Padraic is only angry when drugs are sold to Catholics; he has no problem with them being sold to Protestants. To the extent the INLA counts as evil, they are a straight example, as they disassociated themselves from Padraic who was much too crazy for them.
- And Joey, of Christy's gang, can't get over the fact that he was associatin' with cat batterers.
- Eye Scream: One INLA member, Christy, wears an eyepatch, because Padraic previously gouged out his eye- furthering the Black Comedy, he loses the other during the play. Also, when younger, Mairead shot out the eyes of several cows
- Gorn
- Guns Akimbo: Padraic
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Padraic
- Hoist by His Own Petard / Karmic Death after painting the stage with blood to avenge his dead cat, Padraic has accidentally killed Mairead's cat. She blows his head off
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Mairead's a handy sniper with her air rifle after all that experience shooting cows and her brother. Averted with Padraic, who's a poor shot and prefers to blast people at point-blank range.
- In Love with Your Carnage
- Mexican Standoff
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Mad Padraic.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: To avenge Wee Thomas, Padraic will stop at nothing. Up to and including killing his own father.
- Only Sane Man: Joey, in Christy's gang. By comparison. Outside of that, Davey and Donny.
- Pettanko: Mairead.
- Pet the Dog: Well, kind of
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Nearly everyone is dead, and Mairead is likely to kill her brother and Padraic's father shortly because of their role in the death of her cat. And then it turns out that the INLA people had only killed a random stray by mistake; Wee Thomas is still alive and well.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Padraic shoots his cell phone when he's mad.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: But who expects restraint when dealing with Mad Padraic?
- Tsundere / Yandere: Mairead is very dere for Padraic but tsun towards her brother; on the other hand, she is a Yandere, to the extent she isn't quite mentally balanced.
- Two Words: Obvious Trope: "One word: splinter group!"
- Your Head Asplode: Padraic after Mairead shoots him in the head with his two handguns at close range.