‘A Skull in Connemara’

Villagers Theatre stages the middle play in Martin McDonagh’s trilogy of life in an Irish village in County Galway.

By: Stuart Duncan

Randall McCann (left) and Patrick Carpenter star in the Villagers’ Black Box production of A Skull in Connemara.

   The Black Box space at The Villagers (sometimes called the Zaidi Theatre) continues to provide some of the area’s most exciting shows. The latest is A Skull in Connemara, the middle play in Martin McDonagh’s trilogy of life in the remote Irish village in County Galway. The first, The Beauty Queen of Leename, took the theater world by surprise, but his later works have confirmed that the playwright’s world often was filled with violent and goofy black humor, piled high with "fecking" dialogue, characters that are macabre and as the local minister, Father Walsh, might put it, "defy God’s jurisdiction."
   Indeed, McDonagh’s Ireland is populated by evil mothers, bored daughters, warring brothers, irreverent grave diggers, oddball guards and belligerent neighbors, all of whom are living in a world of rumors, gossip, grudges, spite, jealousy or murder. This, the middle play, is somewhat gentler than the other two and more given to humor. Rather than call what transpires a plot, let’s settle for an "incident."
   We quite literally watch the characters digging into a mystery. The mystery is whether Mick Dowd’s wife, Oona, died seven years ago as a result of a car crash, with a drunken Mick at the wheel. Or whether Mick himself dealt her a deadly blow. It turns out that the local cemetery is so small that one week each year, part of it is dug up, the bodies exhumed so as to make room for "the new lot." This particular year, Mick will be faced with digging up his wife. As if to set the scene, we begin with Mick (stunningly played with a dour look and grudging voice by Randall McCann) welcoming Maryjohnny Rafferty (Carole Mancini in yet another brilliant characterization). She once was a bingo buddy of Mick’s wife, but now contents herself in passing along the gossip of the town, drinking with Mick when the occasions suits (frequently) and in the process, monitoring his actions.
   Their conversation is soon interrupted by the arrival of Mairtin Hanlon, a sort of dim-witted relative, who has been assigned to help Mick in the cemetery by Father Walsh. The role is played by newcomer David J. Cruse with easy Irish charm. By the second scene the pair are digging (real dirt and lots of it), with the local constabulary in the form of Thomas Hanlon (another relative of sorts) watching intently. The latter, it seems, sees the apprehension of Mick as a murderer as his way to the top of his profession. At the moment he is reduced to escorting school children across untraveled roads.
   Patrick Carpenter plays the role with fierce intensity. Director Douglas Brautigam is new to The Villagers and he runs a taut ship. The evening is seamless, the accents so authentic you may have trouble understanding about half of it. The mood is intense, reminding one of Samuel Beckett, but often very funny. A second-act scene in which Mick and Mairtin smash the skulls of the exhumed bodies is humor at its blackest — and funniest. Both actors (plus Ms. Mancini) can handle drunk scenes as well as any company in years.
   The work may not be everyone’s "cuppa" tea, but it is an extraordinary evening of theater and if you have not yet run across playwright McDonagh, here’s a splendid time to start. One hint: reserve early and arrive early. My hunch is that next weekend will be a madhouse sellout.
A Skull in Connemara continues at the Villagers Theatre, 415 Demott Lane, Somerset, through May 28. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m.; May 22, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $12. For information, call (732) 873-2710. On the Web: www.villagerstheatre.com