Jobsite Theater, resident theater company of the Straz Center, completes the pitch-black Irish comedy trilogy set in rural Ireland just in time for St. Patrick's Day this year with Martin McDonagh's A Skull in Connemara, which runs Mar. 17 - Apr. 9, 2017, in the Straz's Shimberg Playhouse.
Mick Dowd is hired one week a year to disinter the bones in certain sections of the local cemetery in Leenane (a small town in County Galway, western Ireland) to make way for the new arrivals. As the time approaches for him to dig up those of his own late wife, strange rumors surrounding his involvement in her sudden death seven years ago begin to resurface. Populated by misfits and miscreants all digging for the truth,
A Skull in Connemara is a blasphemously funny whodunit complete with flying skulls and bloody hatchets.
Martin McDonagh's plays are undeniable favorites of the Jobsite faithful and the company is thrilled to once again bring his signature dark wit, kooky characters, on-stage mayhem, and crackling dialogue back home.
Jobsite began what is commonly referred to as the "Leenane trilogy" in 2003 with
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, chosen as a top production of the year by both Creative Loafing and Tampa Tribune.
Beauty Queen was also the show Jobsite was performing when granted resident theater company status by Straz president
Judy Lisi. The company followed
Beauty Queen up 10 years later with
The Lonesome West, a production that was nominated for 8 Theatre Tampa Bay Awards and earned
David Jenkins a spot of Creative Loafing's Top 9 Performances of the year list. In between 2003 and 1013 Jobsite also produced McDonagh's
The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2009) and
The Pillowman (2006), both to high acclaim. McDonagh is probably more widely known as the Oscar-winning filmmaker of
In Bruges,
Seven Psycopaths, and
Six Shooter.
If the name Mick Dowd sounds familiar it is because he has been gossiped about in the other plays. Leenane is a tight-knit but badly fraying community where everyone knows (or thinks they know) everyone else's business. You'll hear about Mag Folan, freshly murdered by her daughter Maureen, the ironically nicknamed title character of
The Beauty Queen of Leenane. You'll also be reminded of
Ray Dooley's extralegal exploits, as well as the ministrations of the young priest Father Welsh ("Walsh? Welsh!"). The latter is so despairing of his flock in this God-forsaken place that he drowns himself after having burned his hands to "skitter" in the molten wax of boiling Catholic figurines - a last desperate measure to get the violent Connor bothers to stop beating the hell out of each other after the murder of their father in
The Lonesome West.
A Skull in Connemara stars
Diana Rogers (who played Mag Folan in Jobsite's
Beauty Queen) as Maryjohnny Rafferty,
Brian Shea (Jobsite's Father Welsh in
The Lonesome West) as Mick Dowd, David M. Jenkins (
Ray Dooley in
Beauty Queen and Coleman Connor in
The Lonesome West) as
Thomas Hanlon, and Jobsite newcomer Brandon Mauro as Mairtin Hanlon. The play is directed by Paul J. Potenza (who helmed both
Beauty Queen and
Lonesome West) and features designs by Brian Smallheer (set), Ryan Finzelber (lights), and
Katrina Stevenson (costumes).
A Skull in Connemara runs Mar. 15 - Apr. 9, 2017. Tickets start at $28. A season pass for the remaining three Jobsite plays this season is also available for 20% off the price of regular tickets. If available, rush tickets for students, persons 65+, military/veterans and their dependents (Jobsite is a proud Blue Star Families member), Theatre Communications Group and Theatre Tampa Bay members are 50% off as of 30 minutes to curtain with cash and ID at the Straz Box Office window. Opening night on Fri., Mar. 17includes pre-show treats from Rollin' Oats Tampa and a post-show party at The Refinery. Special preview performances are Mar. 15-16 with all seats just $14. Tickets are available at JobsiteTheater.org, by calling 813.229.7827, or from the Straz Center Box Office.
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