Award-winning Irish play Stones in his Pockets winning new fans in Waikato

Joanna Bishop as Hollywood screen star Caroline. Photo / Kerry Blakeney-Williams

The Details

What: Stones in his Pockets. Written by Marie Jones. Directed by Chris Green

Where: Morrinsville Theatre

When: July 8-13

Tickets: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/jul/stones-in-his-pockets

Reviewed by: Cate Prestidge

Popular Irish play Stones in His Pockets is set at a time when the country was becoming increasingly popular as a film location. It took off in the early 2000s 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 backstories that 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 the 1950s John Wayne film The Quiet Man.

Joanna Bishop and Mike Williams star as extras Charlie and Jake in this award-winning Irish play. Photo / Kerry Blakeney-Williams

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, with a flutey voice and darting eyes, her hand always at her ear for instructions. He moves from this to “everyman” Jake, old hand Mickey, 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 extras’ reality. There are 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 laughing-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 such as the pub scenes, although the actors and subtle prop shifts signalled this.

The beauty of smaller-centre theatres is in their accessibility and the warmth of the welcome. After a short 25-minute 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, July 13, so get along to see this classic.