After COVID delay, former San Jose mayor’s play finally making its debut
"A Statue for Ballybunion" tells the story of a town in Ireland trying to catch the attention of a U.S. president.
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 — just a day short of the third anniversary of when it was originally supposed 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 during rehearsals just days before opening night. Everyone — and I mean everyone — has their fingers crossed that this opening goes off without a hitch.
“I am thrilled that A Statue for Ballybunion will have its American debut in my hometown of San Jose,” McEnery said. “My play tells a tale about how a town on the edge of the wild Atlantic fights for its self-respect and very survival. As in all such stories, there is real humor in the lives of its people and an ever-present and sorrowful past.”
The play, directed by Jeff Bracco, is about a real event when the small Irish town of Ballybunion decided to erect a statue of then-President Bill Clinton in 1998 to honor his part in the Good Friday Accords — and how it tried to get Clinton to visit. It was first staged in 2017 at the famed pub of Irish playwright John B. Keane in Listowel, Ireland, whom McEnery knew well before Keane’s death in 2002. While it’s billed as a “true Irish comedy,” McEnery views it more as a humor-laced story of a small town trying to bring attention to itself and the relationship between a father who owns a pub and his daughter.
The cast from 2020 has remained largely intact with ComedySportz San Jose founder Jeff Kramer plays Jackie, the pub owner and Silicon Valley Shakespeare Artistic Director Angie Higgins is his daughter, Kate. The rest of the cast includes local favorites like Andre Leben, Tom Gough, F. James Raasch, Susan Gundunas, Jackson Davis and San Jose Rep founder James Reber.
The play runs Thursdays through Sundays until March 26, and tickets are available for $45-$55 at www.sanjoseplayhouse.org.