"Mojo-Mickbo," a stark Irish tale about the innocence of children's play and the loss of that innocence will be staged at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts for twelve performances from March 23 through April 2 as part of the Quick Center's six-week, multi-event Irish Arts & Letters Festival.

Written by Owen McCafferty, currently the writer-in-residence at the Royal National Theatre in London, "Mojo-Mickybo" premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 1998 and received a nomination for the prestigious Peggy Ramsay Award for Best Play. Other awards include: Best Production and Best Actor, Dublin Fringe/Sunday Times Culture Ireland Awards, 1998; Best Play, Granada Television/Paines Plough Play Awards, 1999; and Total Theatre Awards 1999 from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Set in Belfast and traced from the 1970s to '90s, the story focuses on two young boys who, during a chance encounter in the park, form a unique friendship based upon their obsession with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." A poignant and deeply affecting event brings an end to their relationship and subsequently changes both of their lives forever. Love, hate, innocence and mischief are excellently depicted throughout the rich dialect, yet simple language of these fun-loving children.

Two actors, David Gorry and Richard Dormer, portray a host of 14 characters in this fast-paced chronicle of the lives of Mojo and Mickybo - two Irish boys from either side of the divide. Gorry, a Dublin native, has been acting for 15 years and has played at the Abbey and Lyric theaters in Dublin and at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. He is the recipient of the Sunday Times' London Fringe Award and the Belfast Telegraph's BBC award for best actor.

Dormer trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has performed in theaters throughout the United Kingdom. His television credits include several BBC productions and, he has appeared in two films, "A Further Gesture" and "Diversions."

"Mojo-Mickybo" is sponsored by grants from the State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management in conjunction with the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Fairfield University's College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Grant, the American Ireland Fund, the Kevin Conlisk family, The Wild Geese, the British Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Arts Council of Ireland, the Belfast City Council, the Independent Theatre Council and Bass Ireland.

Performances are at 8 p.m. March 23 through 25, March 30, 31 and April 1; at 3 p.m. on March 25, 26 and April 1 and 2; and at 10 p.m. on March 24 and 31 and take place in the Quick Center's Wien Theatre. Tickets are $15 with discounts for seniors and students. For information call (203) 254-4010 or toll-free at 1-877-ARTS-396.

Posted On: 03-15-2000 09:03 AM

Volume: 32 Number: 177