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Glengarry Glen Ross
By David Mamet
Directed by Jeremy Skidmore
Produced by Keegan Theatre
Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Keegan Theatre’s Glengarry Glen Ross is an example of how the stars can occasionally align to produce a truly memorable experience.  This top-notch production of David Mamet’s profane yet literate play about desperate real estate salesmen would be a treat under any circumstance.  When you add in the special resonance that results from the current economic climate, the result ranks among the finest theatrical events of the year. (more…)

Dublin Carol
By Conor McPherson
Directed by Jack Sbarbori
Produced by Quotidian Theatre Company
Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Conor McPherson’s Dublin Carol consists of three scenes set in the office of assistant funeral director John Plunkett (John Decker) in Dublin on Christmas Eve.  The office is a nice creation by set designer Jack Sbarbori, just cluttered enough to be convincing and authentic in every touch, even down to the Aer Lingus coffee mug. (more…)

The Shadow of the Glen &The Playboy of the Western World
by John Millington Synge
directed by Garry Hynes
A DRUID Theatre Company production, presented by The Kennedy Center
reviewed by Steven McKnight

If you think the work of early 20th century Irish playwright John Millington Synge is merely broad comedies about Irish peasants, The Druid Theatre Company of Galway, Ireland will likely change your mind.  Their superlative performances in The Shadow of the Glen and particularly The Playboy of the Western World capture the voice of a playwright that was both authentic and modern, and demonstrate a depth of character found only in the finest theatre. (more…)

• Stones In His Pockets
• By Marie Jones
• Directed by Kerry Waters Lucas
• Produced by Keegan Theatre’s New Island Project
• Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Can hopes and dreams be dangerous?  Stones in His Pockets starts as a witty little satire about a small Irish village used as backdrop for a Hollywood film then evolves into a darker and richer story. (more…)

• Trad
• By Mark Doherty
• Directed by Linda Murray
• Produced by Solas Nua
• Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Trad (short for “tradition,” one of its overarching themes) is a brilliant Irish stew of surreal comedy, touching drama, clever satire, and thoughtful allegory.  Solas Nua presents a professional and charming production of Mark Doherty’s award-winning play. (more…)

• Made in China
• By Mark O’Rowe
• Directed by Colin Hovde
• Produced by Solas Nua
• Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff

When it comes to cutting edge Irish theatre, it does not get much better than Solas Nua. Their 2005 production of Mark O’Rowe’s Howie The Rookie was a fabulous production that had humor, violence and rollercoaster like excitement - Irish story telling at its best.

(more…)

By Owen McCafferty

Produced by Solas Nua and Tinderbox Theatre Company (Belfast)

Directed by Des Kennedy

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

In Mojo/Mickybo, Owen McCafferty’s two-man tragedy staged by Keegan last January, Belfast bled all over the stage, as the City’s ceaseless Catholic-Protestant conflict made mincemeat out of two young boys’ friendship, and out of everything else.  Rona Munro mined similar territory in last year’s Bold Girls, and many other writers have explored the same thing.  Indeed, a theatrical company could easily plan a full season around staged examinations of The Troubles, and how they have robbed life of value in that benighted land. (more…)

Belfast director Des Kennedy is in town to direct his first U. S. production, Solas Nua’s Scenes from the Big Picture by Owen McCafferty (Mojo/ Mickybo). Callie Kimball, popular DC playwright and actress, leads Des in a lively conversation about the day-in-Belfast play, his take on American actors, his unusual techniques for rehearsing Big Picture’s 21 member cast, and the role The Laramie Project has played on his career. Finally, the 24-year director shares his discoveries in theater and upcoming projects.

Listen here.

Or play by clicking on the speaker icon

Scenes from the Big Picture runs through June 24^th at the Callan Theatre, Catholic University. For more information, visit the Solas Nua website.

(Run time: 18:57)

 

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Produced by Solas Nua
Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff

Podcast with Kate Debelack by Joel Markowitz with Lorraine Treanor (follows the review)

Chris Davenport and Kate Debelack (Photo: C. Stanley Photography)

Irish playwright Enda Walsh, who was recently appointed Playwright in Residence for Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, is becoming very familiar to Washington audiences. His 2005 play The Small Things does not tell a clearly defined story in the same way as last year’s Misterman or the excellent, well reviewed Bedbound – it does though, shower us with brilliantly constructed and colorful language. Frequently edgy and often shocking scraps of human cruelty, genocide and individual loneliness are accessible beneath the multiple layers of Walsh’s styled vocabulary. Walsh is a master at making you laugh at his characters and later feel really creepy that you found some things funny at all. (more…)

 

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Mojo Mickybo by Owen McCafferty

Produced by the new island project of Keegan Theatre at Theatre on the Run

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Podcast with the cast and director follows the review.

Who are those guys?

Hey, if you like good theater, delivered explosively by excellent actors, do yourself a favor and go to the Theatre on the Run in Arlington.  Buy yourself a ticket to Owen McCafferty’s Mojo Mickybo, plunk yourself down in one of the comfortable seats, and just watch.

Mojo Mickybo, set in 1970 Belfast, is the story of the friendship between two boys, the diffident Mojo (Christopher Dinolfo) and querulous, aggrieved Mickybo (Michael Innocenti).  The lads are just at the cusp of pubescence, where they glory in the ecstatic violation of parental authority and of minor ordinances. They steal cigarettes, piss on walls and shout out profanity with the purposefulness of monks singing a hymn.  They are full of grand plans, but they are still kids.  When Mickybo’s stewbum father (Dinolfo again) offers to take the kids to Australia, Mojo enthusiastically signs on - as soon as he gets his mother’s permission. ( “Just be back in time for tea,” his distracted ma (Innocenti again) says.}

Like kids of this age all over the globe, they live in a world which is half fantasy and half real.  The fantasy part is informed by the great William Goldman movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Mojo and Mickybo imagine themselves to be the immortal cowboys, hard-riding gun-toting friends to the end.  (”All men are cowboys,” a Greek chorus of neighborhood women, all played by Innocenti, tells Mojo, and they carry that truth with them throughout the play.)  They talk a friendly local bus driver (Dinolfo) into giving them a ride to the next county, which will serve for Bolivia in the absence of the real thing. (more…)

 

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