'Skull' Gets Heads Up at Northlight

 Special to The Irish American Post

As full of twists as a shillelagh, as haunting as a whistle in a graveyard, British sensation Martin McDonagh's raw Irish comedy, A Skull in Connemara promises to be a ghoulishly good time in its Chicago run at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie. 

Artistic Director BJ Jones, who staged Northlight's 1998 hit production of McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, returned to direct his second McDonagh's play, the story of four lonely misfits in Ireland's remote Connemara region who dig for the truth, and get far more than they bargained for.

Northlight's production stars Si Osborne, Mary Seibel, Mike Thornton and John Gawlik. A Skull in Connemara runs though Mar. 10 at Northlight Theatre, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd. Call (847) 673-6300 for tickets and information.

A Skull in Connemara is set in modern-day rural Galway, where one week each autumn, Mick Dowd (Si Osborne) is hired to disinter the bones in certain sections of the church cemetery to make way for new arrivals. As the time approaches for Mick to dig up the remains of his late wife Oona, strange rumors regarding his involvement in her sudden death seven years ago gradually begin to resurface. 

Adding to the linguistic gymnastics, merriment, mayhem, and maybe murder are village idiot Mairton Hanlon (Mike Thornton), small-town Garda Tom Hanlon (John Gawlik), and Mick's meddling neighbor Mary Rafferty (Mary Seibel, most recently seen as Sister Clarissa in Northlight's smash hit season opener Over the Tavern, and the scene-stealing Mammy in Northlight's first McDonagh's play, The Cripple of Inishmaan.)

Northlight Theatre's 1998 Chicago premiere of The Cripple of Inishmaan, the first in McDonagh's new trilogy about the Aran Islands, was named one of the Top 10 Productions of 1998 by the Chicago Tribune. Equal parts J.M. Synge and Quentin Tarentino, the 30-year-old British playwright is one of the freshest, most original new voices in contemporary theater, according to critics. 

A native of London and the son of Irish expatriates, McDonagh quit school at 16, and following unsuccessful stints writing screenplays and short stories, began writing play after play at age 24, completing each in only a few weeks time.

Although he never actually lived in Ireland, each of McDonagh's plays is set there, inspired by memories of childhood holidays with his Galway relatives. McDonagh's originally took the world by storm four years ago with his critically acclaimed Leenane trilogy: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane, his first play, premiered in Dublin in 1996, transferred to the Royal Court in London,and then to Broadway where it won four Tony Awards. McDonagh's incredible success with Beauty Queen was followed by The Lonesome West , which had its Broadway premiere in 1999. 

A Skull in Connemara, the second play in the Leenane trilogy, premiered in Galway in 1997, transferred to London's Royal Court Theatre, received its U.S. premiere at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre in 2000, and was a hit in its New York debut at Roundabout Theatre in 2001. McDonagh is now a resident playwright at the Royal National Theatre. His other works include The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Barney Negagh's Shotgun Circus.

B.J. Jones is a veteran Chicago actor and director, now in his fourth season as Northlight Artistic Director. Since joining Northlight in 1998, Jones staged Northlight's critically acclaimed productions of The Cripple of Inishmaan, Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr. Green, Shelagh Stephenson's An Experiment with an Air Pump, and David Rambo's God's Man in Texas. 

A Jeff-nominated director, Jones has also piloted productions at Steppenwolf, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, National Jewish Theatre, Body Politic and Wisdom Bridge. A two-time Jeff award-winning actor, Jones has appeared on virtually every stage in Chicago including the Goodman, where he appeared in House and Garden, Steppenwolf in Playboy of the Western World, Court, and Victory Gardens as well as Northlight where he starred in God's Man in Texas. 

Jones, himself an Irishman, delights in the rich Irish comedy of Connemara. Admitting that his busy schedule doesn't leave him much time to study his family history, he is grateful for those family members who do.

"In their retirement," he chuckled, "the generation before me has become obsessed with our Irish heritage." In 2000, Jones took a break from the theater to spend two weeks in Ireland. With wife Candi and their three children, Keely, Cameron and Michaela, Jones covered more than 2,000 miles of Irish countryside. Spending time in Kilkenny and Waterford, the family searched through century-old cemeteries in a quest to find the graves of their ancestors. The journey paid off and Jones has a photo of himself standing next to a gravestone of the Aylwards (the name of his great-great-grandmother).

Jones admitted to being "obsessed with all things Celtic" and was sure that Connemara's audiences will get a hearty laugh from the Irish humor. For those not-so-familiar with Irish comedy, there is still the play's mystery. It's a dark production about the nature of truth and the quest for forgiveness.

Jones has also appeared on film in The Fugitive and Body Double, and on TV in Law and Order, Criminal Intent, Early Edition, Turks, Cupid and The Untouchables. Immediately following A Skull in Connemara, Jones will direct good friend and Chicago favorite Mike Nussbaum in Northlight's next production, Willy Holtzman's World War II memory play Hearts: The Forward Observer, March 20-April 28, 2002.

Northlight's design team for A Skull in Connemara includes Michelle Habeck, lights; Rachel Healy, costumes; Pam LaBrosse, props; Todd Rosenthal, set; and Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman, sound.

 Following A Skull in Connemara, veteran Chicago actor Mike Nussbaum will cover personal ground in the Midwest premiere of Willy Holtzman's World War II memory play Hearts: The Forward Observer, directed by BJ Jones, March 20-April 28. Hearts will also star William Dick, Linda Kimbrough, William J. Norris and John Sterchi. Capping Northlight's season is Lanford Wilson's Pulitzer-Prize winning Talley's Folly, a romantic comedy about a big city Jewish accountant who woos a Southern belle in 1940s Missouri, directed by Kate Buckley, May 15-June 23. For complete 2001/2002 season information, call (847) 673-6300, or visit Northlight on the web, http://www.northlight.org.

Northlight Theatre is partially supported by the Chicago Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, Polk Brothers Foundation, Fry Foundation, the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Patrick & Anna M. Cudahy Foundation, the Theater Communications Group, American Airlines, and the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.
 

When You Go: A Skull in Connemara:  Times, Dates and Ticket Information Northlight Theatre's production of A Skull in Connemara runs through March 10, 2002 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., adjacent to Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie.   Sat., March 2 @ 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sun., March 3 @ 2:30 p.m. only Wed., March 6 @ 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thurs. & Fri., March. 7 & 8 @ 8 p.m. Sat., March 9 @ 3 and 8 p.m. Sun., March 10 @ 2:30 p.m. Regular performances are $32-$45.   For tickets and information, call 847-673-6300.  Student rush tickets are available day of show.  Seniors receive $3 off single tickets.  Call 847-679-9501, ext. 3104, for group discounts. Parking at Northlight is free.