Got dirt in me shoes & bits of skull at me feet. "A Skull in Connemara" feckin' awesome!

That's right - those are bits of skull left over from the A+ production of Martin McDonagh's "A Skull in Connemara" by Theatre Tribe in North Hollywood.

Billed as "a bone crushing dark feckin' comedy", this was one of the best theater experiences of my life (as a patron). Theater Tribe is an intimate space - I don't think it's even a 99-seat theater. I sat in the front row - I did some research on the play and I wanted to be in the thick of the action (ergo...the bits of dirt and skull left at my feet). McDonagh wrote the screenplay, In Bruges; won a 2007 Academy Award for his short film, Six Shooter, and has published some wonderfully dark Irish plays - including, "The Cripple of Innishmaan" (reading), "The Pillowman" (read), "The Lieutenant of Innishmore" (read) and "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" (Tony winner). I enjoy his sense of humor and his dark comedy.

Director Stuart Rogers outdid himself. The acting was superb (Irish accents were excellent and I'm a stickler for 'either do them right or don't do them at all' - which would be hard 'cause it takes place in Ireland), the story was fascinating and the set - never saw anything quite like it. In front of my eyes, the Irish cottage was transformed into a graveyard - I mean the actors were actually standing in half-dug graves shoveling dirt. If part of the job of theater is to make one believe you're actually there (that's a rhetorical question), it succeeded. I congratulate the actors - Morlan Higgins, John K. Linton, Jeff Kerr McGivney and Jayne Taini (that's Jenny O'Hara above, who was taking the night off), as well as the crew. Brav-feckin'-o!

Here's the review in Variety. I went last Saturday on closing night. The audience's rousing cheers and clapping soon morphed into a beat that complemented the Irish music and we continued clapping until the actors returned for a 2nd bow. Too bad. You missed a great show.

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Looking for scary Halloween fodder to read the little kiddies tonite? Don't read "The Pillowman".

(Reprinted posts from 10/13/08)

I finished Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman". Without a doubt, one of the most warped, detestable, screwed up, sick plays I've read. LOVED IT. I wouldn't suggest it for children under the age of 12. And certainly not to a child who might be prone to killing small animals and such.

I'm currently working on a full-length play that may well be considered as equally detestable (I'm not comparing myself to McDonagh in any way). The subject matter, I mean. Some interesting the similarities in plot points.

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I stood 10 yards from Paul Giamatti.

Star of the HBO mini series, "John Adams" and such films as "Sideways", "Private Parts" and "Planet of the Apes". Saw Paul in the courtyard at Skirball Center after the radio play, "The Rivalry", last night in LA (see 3rd post down) - he performed the role of Stephen Douglas opposite David Strathairn's Abe Lincoln.

Anyway, I wanted to tell him what an inspiring performance he gave as the lead in "John Adams". I wanted to tell him I thought that that mini series was one of the best I'd ever seen on TV and that watching the show made me proud of my country's heritage. I wanted to tell him that there were moments in that show that made me wept.

But he looked as if he was trying to make a beeline to his car in the parking structure when he was suddenly "attacked" by 3 or 4 autograph and picture seekers. I thought to myself, "no - I'll let him be". Was that the high road I just took? Perhaps my good deed will produce dividends some other time.

"The Rivalry", by the way, was excellent.

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