Award-winning Irish play comes to Morrinsville
Written by Marie Jones
Directed by: Chris Green
Where: Morrinsville Theatre
Dates: 8-13 July
Reviewed by: Cate Prestidge
Popular Irish play ‘Stones in his Pockets’ is set at a time when Ireland was increasingly popular as a Hollywood location. It took off in the early 2000’s with productions on the West End and Broadway, winning multiple theatre awards along the way.
Set in County Kerry, the play tells the story of the ‘extras’, local villagers roped in by a spot of money and a chance at the big time while a big budget film crew invades the village.
The play has 15 characters, and is centred around our two leads, village local and aspiring actor Jake Quinn (Mike Williams) and down-on-his-luck film buff Charlie Conlon (Joanna Bishop). Both men have hopes and dreams for the future, and back stories which are revealed as the play progresses.
Director, Chris Green was thrilled to secure the talents of experienced stage performers Williams and Bishop, and both show skill and control as they move between the roles of Jake and Charlies, and 13 other characters. These include village boys, members of the Hollywood crew, a dazzling star and the last surviving local ‘extra’ from 1950’s John Wayne film ‘The Quiet Man’.
Changes between characters are revealed with a step, a pause, an inclination of the head, a change on tone, pitch and accent. Williams opens as Aisling, a young Assistant Director, all flutey voice and darting eyes, her hand always at her ear for instructions. He moves from this to ‘everyman’ Jake, old hand Mickey, a tough security guard, polished voice coach John and more with swift transitions into new accents and posture.
Bishop brings liveliness to the lead role of Charlie, a bit of a chancer, and hopeful scriptwriter. She uses her voice and body to seamlessly move between characters, from lascivious Caroline to bossy Director Simon, from cheeky Charlie to roadie Fin, and back again.
Billed as a comedy, the play straddles that fine line of ‘tragi-comedy’ as the stories unfold. Much of the humour comes from Charlie’s cheek, and the ‘in jokes’ of the extras, as well as the mismatch between the Hollywood director’s romanticised visions, and the extra’s reality. There’s also laughs in Caroline’s mangling of accent and the banter between the men. It’s humour that the Irish do well, but it’s not always laugh out loud.
The set, as is traditional for the play, is simple and representative. I really liked the use of a gauze scrim which created a sort of transition zone for the actors. With such a spare set, this was welcome variety, as were the moments of ‘action’ when a bright spotlight changed the mood on set. I would have liked to see more lighting used for the scene changes, especially when these were slightly longer like the pub scenes, although the actors and subtle prop shifts signal this.
The beauty of smaller centre theatres is in their accessibility and the warmth of the welcome. After a short 25min drive from Hamilton, we parked right outside and secured a generous glass of red wine from the bar before the show. During the break volunteers served tea, coffee and biscuits for a coin donation – all rather lovely.
The play runs until Thursday 13th so get along to see this classic.
