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Stones in his Pockets
22nd April 2019 - 27th April 2019
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Rose Theatre Kingston Productions and Theatre Royal Bath Productions
in association with McCarter Theatre Center
STONES IN HIS POCKETS
by Marie Jones
Directed by Lindsay Posner
Starring Owen Sharpe and Kevin Trainor
A small village in rural Ireland is turned upside down when a major Hollywood film studio descends to make a historical blockbuster on location. The story is told through the eyes of Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, employed as extras along with numerous other locals. As cultures clash, it becomes clear that Tinseltown’s romanticized dream of Ireland is a long, long way from reality. Just two talented actors brilliantly bring to life a multitude of extraordinary characters, ranging from the spoilt American starlet to the English director and the village old timer.
Often hysterically funny, thought-provoking and witty, this wonderful comedy has won numerous awards including both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best New Comedy, as well as three Tony nominations on Broadway. Stones in his Pockets ran for four years in the West End and has delighted audiences around the world.
One of the UK’s greatest directors of comedy, Lindsay Posner’s many acclaimed productions include Noises Off at The Old Vic, and Abigail’s Party, Relatively Speaking and Hay Fever in the West End. He was Associate Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 1987 – 1992, where his production of Death and the Maiden won two Olivier Awards. He recently directed God of Carnage for the Theatre Royal’s 2018 Summer Season.
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes
“Triumphant, fast, brilliant and hilarious” Independent
“An unequivocal source of joy, laughter, tears and delight” Daily Mail
“A moving and heartfelt tribute to the imaginative power of live performance” Guardian
“Has a rare theatrical kick… I envy those catching it for the first time” Daily Telegraph
“Very Irish and very funny” Irish Times
“A gem..funny and engrossing. A delight from beginning to end” Daily Express
“A wonderfully enjoyable evening” Independent
“I was delirious with joy” News of the World
“A hilarious tearjerker..thoroughly recommended” Mail on Sunday
“Magical” Guardian
“Not to be missed” Sunday Telegraph
Production Photographs by Nobby Clark
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Event Reviews
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Paul
Saw it last night and was a bit apprehensive having read the one star review. I have to say it was one of the best plays I’ve seen at malvern this year. It takes a few minutes to tune in to the actors playing many different characters but soon the simple change in stance or gesture becomes very clever. Two very talented actors
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Choice Radio Worcester
From the country which has stood in for, amongst others, the D-Day landing scenes in Saving Private Ryan, the Scottish Highlands in Braveheart and the planet Ahch-To in Star Wars - The Last Jedi comes a play which features a cast of characters making a new film. A cast of characters maybe, but Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones is amazingly performed by just two actors, Owen Sharpe and Kevin Trainor, and they do it brilliantly in this new production from Theatre Royal Bath.
They each have one main character - extras on the film set, Jake from Kerry and Charlie from Ballycastle - but within the blink of an eye or a change of gait or voice, they become a whole host of other characters, from the film's director and sidekick to the main actress in the film and various other local Irish folk. And as most of the extras come from the same little community, the sudden death of one of them (which gives rise to the title of the play) risks throwing the production company's tight deadlines out of the window and the vital continuity needed when making a film out of sequence is threatened by the changeable weather.
As what happens in the film - heroine meets and weds local lad - does not reflect real life for them, the story lays bare the desire of the two disillusioned extras' desire to leave the poverty of living in the £40 a day extras fee and find a better life.
Even though the move between the characters is fast and seamless, the audience soon gets used to which character is being portrayed such is the skill of the actors and the script which bounces from one to another as if there was a whole compliment of actors to portray them.
The Ireland of today is somewhat different from when the play was first performed some 20 years ago, but the Them-and-Us scenario and Big Hollywood versus small town community is still alive and kicking and the angst felt by the main characters is still heart-felt and convincing.
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Marion
A clever and imaginative play. Both actors were brilliant at playing the numerous characters ranging from old men to a glamorous Hollywood female star and several others. The story was both funny and incredibly sad.
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Douglas
I've re-read the one-line reviews on your website and I can't believe that this is the same play my wife and I just walked out of in the interval. We found it the most appalling play we've ever attended - certainly the only one I've walked out of in sixty years of theatregoing. The two actors struggled enthusiastically with the lines they were given, but it was beyond redemption! The overall effect was further worsened by a constant stream of swearing, which we found offensive.
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Don
The newspaper reviews must have been from a very different production. This was very poor. We didn't walk out at the interval but msybe we should have.
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Katie
This play seems to get mixed reviews. We visited last night and the production was uninteresting and did not live up to some of the reviews I have seen. I give credit to the actors having to play many roles - I don't know why they didn't have more actors rather than each actor playing six roles - it certainly didn't add anything to the play so I must imagine it was a cost saving exercise.
