After COVID delay, former San Jose mayor’s play finally making its debut

Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery’s play, “A Statue for Ballybunion,” is all set for its San Jose Playhouse premiere at 3Below Theaters in downtown San Jose tonight  — only a day in need of the third anniversary of when it was initially imagined to debut.

The comedy play was on the cusp of its U.S. premiere on St. Patrick’s Day in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut it down throughout rehearsals simply days earlier than opening evening. Everybody — and I imply everybody — has their fingers crossed that this opening goes off with no hitch.

“I'm thrilled that A Statue for Ballybunion may have its American debut in my hometown of San Jose,” mentioned McEnery, who might be current for post-show discussions with the forged and crew tonight and on March 17, 19, 23 and 26. “My play tells a story about how a city on the sting of the wild Atlantic fights for its self-respect and really survival. As in all such tales, there's actual humor within the lives of its individuals and an ever-present and sorrowful previous.”

Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery, photographed in 2020, has written a comedic play “A Statue for Ballybunion,” that might be produced at 3Below Theaters in San Jose. (Anda Chu/Bay Space Information Group) 

The play, directed by Jeff Bracco, is about an actual occasion when the small Irish city of Ballybunion determined to erect a statue of then-President Invoice Clinton in 1998 to honor his half within the Good Friday Accords — and the way it tried to get Clinton to go to. It was first staged in 2017 on the famed pub of Irish playwright John B. Keane in Listowel, Eire, whom McEnery knew effectively earlier than Keane’s loss of life in 2002. Whereas it’s billed as a “true Irish comedy,” McEnery views it extra as a humor-laced story of a small city making an attempt to convey consideration to itself and the connection between a father who owns a pub and his daughter.

The forged from 2020 has remained largely intact with ComedySportz San Jose founder Jeff Kramer performs Jackie, the pub proprietor and  Silicon Valley Shakespeare Creative Director Angie Higgins is his daughter, Kate. The remainder of the forged consists of native favorites like Andre Leben, Tom Gough, F. James Raasch, Susan Gundunas, Jackson Davis and San Jose Rep founder James Reber.

The play runs Thursdays via Sundays till March 26, and tickets can be found for $45-$55 at www.sanjoseplayhouse.org.