I saw a play tonight. There was a dinner in the banquet hall before. The rain was fierce and I had to hop off the bus after a 20 minute ride was taking an hour and walk to Wood Quay and the Smock Theatre. I was late and sat at trestle tables with other folks. The family next to me talked and shared their knowledge of the theatre. I had no idea that I would have one of the best experiences of theater I have had in a long, long time. The play is this.
Stones in His Pockets was written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland.
The play is a tragicomedy about a small rural town in Ireland where many of the townspeople are extras in a Hollywood film. The story centres on Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, who, like much of the town, are employed as extras for the filming. The key point in the play is when a local teenager commits suicide, by drowning himself with stones in his pockets, after he is humiliated by one of the film stars. The script calls upon the cast of two to perform all 15 characters (men and women), often switching gender and voice with swift dexterity and the absolute bare minimum of costume changes – a hat here, a jacket there. Comedy also derives from the efforts of the production crew to create the proper “Irish feel” – a romanticised notion that often conflicts with the reality of daily life.
The play was first shown in Belfast in 1996 and went on to have a successful run in London’s West End. The original cast of Conleth Hill and Sean Campion later took the show to Broadway. Having won the Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Award for Best Production in 1999, the play also won two Olivier Awards in 2001 for Best New Comedy and Best Actor (Conleth Hill).
This was an amazing play with two actors changing character by simply turning around. The ovation, the verbal calls from the audience indicated that this was incredible. I had no idea.
Leara Rhodes 