• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Monday, August 11, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    Three further arrests made in connection with attempted murder in central Reading

    One arrested following sexual assault on two women in Reading nightclub

    Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip’s first album in a decade– 20 years after starting out in Reading

    Dad desperately pleas for financial help for life enabling treatment for daughter

    ‘The dog just got frustrated and attacked the baby’: Reading crime scene cleaners reveals traumatic incident

    UK’s leading Bon Jovi impersonator to perform in Reading

    Squire’s supports The Piggott School’s reflection garden project

    Three injured, one arrested, following attempted murder in central Reading

    Thames Water apologises for major outages last year as thousands receive compensation

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Reading FC Women strengthen their game with Pilates in Lower Earley

    Reading-based Sport in Mind wins £4k grant from technology leader Sage

    Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes attend St Dominic Savio Catholic Primary School to award £5k grant

    Reading FC defender to miss three weeks with injury

    Made in Reading: Michael Olise nominated for Ballon d’Or award

    Reading FC eye move for Portsmouth midfielder

    Women’s FA Cup ties revealed

    Berkshire CCC denied place in NCCA final

    Four strikers Reading FC could sign this transfer window

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Entertainment Arts

Review: Compelling comedy and dark drama in Progress’ The Lonesome West

Jake Clothier by Jake Clothier
Friday, March 3, 2023 2:45 pm
in Arts, Entertainment, Featured, Reading
A A
From Left, Paul Gittus as Valene, Adam Wells as Father Welsh, and Damien Passmore as Coleman. Picture: Courtesy of Progress Theatre

From Left, Paul Gittus as Valene, Adam Wells as Father Welsh, and Damien Passmore as Coleman. Picture: Courtesy of Progress Theatre

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

PROGRESS Theatre’s latest production is Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West, which follows two brothers after the death of their father.

Set in rural Ireland, the play explores themes of contrition, sibling rivalry, and the damage that spite inflicts upon those we love the most.

Coleman and Valene are living in their father’s house after Coleman has accidentally killed him with a shotgun, and begins in the aftermath of the funeral.

Coleman, portrayed by Damien Passmore, is constantly fighting with his brother, Valene, portrayed by Paul Gittus, and the situation escalates as the reality of their father’s passing sets in.

The play’s opening scene comes thick and fast with jokes as the brothers speak with Father Welsh, portrayed by Adam Wells.

Related posts

47-year-old woman arrested after two pedestrians die in road traffic collision in Caversham

Boy, 15, left with broken jaw after being attacked by three teenagers in Reading

Police release CCTV of man in relation to assault in Reading

Man and woman jailed for GBH, fraud and robbery in Reading, including assault on a man in his 80s

They are also joined by Girleen, a young girl and member of Father Welsh’s flock, portrayed by Imogen Lilley.

All are notable not only for their control of Irish accents, but also the feeling of an understanding of the particular tone, style, and rhythms of speech and sense of humour which come along with them.

Both Passmore and Gittus portray the brotherly animosity with conviction, with the constant bickering between the two feeling like the manifestation of deeper resentment.

Neither lets the darker moments of the first half cloud the jovial tone too much, but they also avoid stripping those moments of their dramatic impact.

Similarly, it feels like the cast has fun with the lighter parts of the play, especially in the opening scene.

As the light-heartedness falls away in the second half, each actor comes into their own.

Wells’ portrayal of an alcoholic priest, who is wrestling with crises of faith following multiple grisly deaths in his parish, builds in intensity through the play.

This comes to a head in an especially striking monologue from Father Welsh, during which Wells gives an assured, confident performance in the face of dark and weighty subject matter, especially when dwelling on the fleeting moments of comedic respite during the scene.

Imogen Lilley’s Girleen, who feels like comic relief as a character during the first half, also blossoms into something else entirely.

Lilley’s performance makes this about-turn all the more impactful through its accomplished combination of youthful naivety and an underlying longing, again contributing to the heart-break of the play’s final act.

As the play draws to a close, it becomes clear that while all four actors have the ability to throw the script around during its comedy moments, each can also show the deeper, compelling humanity of the characters.

The set is also excellently imagined, evoking the close and cosy interior of a humble Irish home, complete with convincing and well-observed touches.

The very final image of the production is particularly powerful as a result of a choice practical effect which is very well executed.

Overall, The Lonesome West is a triumph of the duality of theatre, with the production celebrating the humour and levity of small-town life while also contemplating the darkest responses of the human psyche well.

The show runs at Progress Theatre, The Mount, from Friday, March 3, to Saturday, March 11.

Tickets are available via: progresstheatre.co.uk/2023-the-lonesome-west

Progress features a number of accessible show dates, including socially distanced performances.

Relaxed performances are adapted to make provisions for families with young children and people with physical or special needs.

This includes a relaxed attitude to audience noise, adaptations to the production to reduce anxiety and sensory stimuli.

It also holds Come As You Are nights, which feature earlier opening times and space to change for trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming people who can feel excluded or unsafe in certain public spaces.

Progress Theatre will see the rest of the season out with productions of Moira Buffini’s Dinner, Sandi Toksvig’s Silver Lining, and a performance of Twelfth Night for its annual open air event in the Abbey Ruins in the summer.

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Tags: progressProgress TheatrerdgukreadingReading TheatreTheatre
Previous Post

Reading man sentenced following coercive control verdict

Next Post

ANOTHER VIEW: Unzipping traffic jams

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • Reading FC star Knibbs set to make Championship move as fee is agreed

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC face backlash after announcement of latest sponsor

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC compete with League One clubs to sign striker

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC star has transfer to Charlton Athletic delayed

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three injured, one arrested, following attempted murder in central Reading

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.