<em>Philly Theatre Review: </em> "A Skull In Connemara"

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Lantern Theater Company, in conjunction with the area's Irish Theatre Festival, has unveiled the alcohol-saturated antics of a drama titled "A Skull In Connemara."

This play by the award-winning, European-based playwright Martin McDonagh may not be the easiest to digest, but it may well be one of the goofiest dramas on record.

In it, a leading figure in a small Irish town has the unenviable job of disinterring old bones in the local cemetery to make room for the more recently departed.  One of those unearthed happens to be the remains of the digger's wife, refueling the persistent rumor she was done in by her husband.

It's but one  element in this alcohol-saturated verbal free-for-all involving gravedigger Mick and his associates, whose cartoonish nonsense includes displaying bony skulls fresh from the grave on a table, then bashing them to smithereens.

There's little of a serious nature here other than the shattering of taboos with reckless abandon.

While the dialog is as excessive as it is silly, "A Skull In Connemara" is a champion laugh-getter.  It'll be at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Streets, through February 13th.  For more information go to lanterntheater.org.

Reviewed by Bob Nelson, KYW Newsradio 1060.