OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Michael Marshall 

• Notes

  Happy Birthday Jacob had a rehearsed reading as part of Druid Debuts at Galway Arts Festival in 2013. A re-written version of the play reopened at the New Theatre on the 16th, August 2017. This production was produced by Bakru Theatre Productions (Formally PÚCA), and was directed by Laura Bowler.

• Synopsis

  This is the story of two brothers, Jacob and Lucas, who, after being abandoned at a young age, have been forced to develop a life which consists of secrecy and strict routine. The story exists between the father leaving and the foreboding imminence of his return. That is until Mary, their mother, arrives abruptly, which slowly severs the bond between the two brothers. Lucas’s fantastical notions of a family reunited directly clashes with Jacob’s embodied reality of rejection and abandonment. Jacob with the help of Terry a neighbouring girl try to keep this constructed family afloat while Lucas drifts towards an idea that he has only been able fantasise. Time is ticking closer to Jacob's 18th birthday, a day in which everything that has been built must fall.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  2

• Female

  2

• Total

  4

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  07 February 2017

• Production Notes

  Produced by PÚCA (also known as Bakru). 

• Original Venue

  The New Theatre
  

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the play's original production programme.