Garry Hynes, director

It's 1934, and news is thin on the island of Inishmaan. Then word arrives that a Hollywood filmmaker is coming to a neighboring island to shoot a movie, and excitement ripples through the sleepy community. For Billy Claven, a crippled orphan, the film provides an opportunity to get away from his bleak existence. He auditions for a part in the film and, to everyone's surprise, gets his chance. The Cripple of Inishmaan is “a break-your-heart, cruelly funny evening directed with an exhilarating ruthlessness and acted with a bracing lack of sentimentality.” (The Guardian) The second play in Martin McDonagh's “Aran Islands” trilogy, it is infused with his trademark humor, rich with macabre cruelty, and teeming with eccentric island characters from Billy's “Aunt Kate,” who talks to stones to gossip monger “JohnnyPateenMike,” who attempts to get his elderly mother to drink herself to death. Ireland's acclaimed Druid Theater Company makes its UMS debut with this 2008 production.