Welcome to Leenane, a small village in the rugged landscape of County Galway.  It might seem to be a typical Irish village, but there’s something a bit different about it.  The young parish priest, Father Welsh, puts it this way:  “I thought Leenane was a nice place when first I turned up here, but no.  Turns out it’s the murder capital of ***ing Europe.” 

His assessment is not far wrong.  There's been a recent, possibly accidental shooting, in which Coleman Connor has killed his father.  Now Coleman and his brother Valene are sharing their father’s house, locked in a years-old hostility which constantly threatens to escalate.  Father Welsh is determined to broker some kind of peace between them, but it’s an uphill battle for a priest who is generally regarded by them with a kind of amused and tolerant contempt.  Plus Father Welsh is a tad too attached to the wicked Irish home-brew, poteen, which he gets from the flirtatious and tough local teenager, Girleen.  Can he manage to save the brothers from murder?  Or will he give it up, along with his faith, as a lost cause?

It's funny stuff.  The often-violent relationship between the brothers is a bit more 3 Stooges than Cain and Abel, and they're united in their dislike of most of the villagers. Their trenchant observations are wonderfully funny, due in no small part to McDonagh’s gift for colorful Irish insults.  This play gives us twists and turns, darkness and laughter, and some genuinely touching moments as well.