Stones in His Pockets: A Play by Marie Jones with an Introduction by Mel Gussow (Applause Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)A small farming village in County Kerry, Ireland, where a new Hollywood film is being shot, serves as the setting for this hilarious and affecting comedy. Many of the local residents are working as extras for "forty smackaronies a day," including Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, both in their mid-thirties, through whose eyes we observe the lives of the real residents of Kerry, a world dramatically different from what is being recorded on film. For the director and crew of the film and for Caroline Giovanni, the American star, the daily takes and on-set activity are, unfortunately, the only reality. When Sean Harkin, a dream-filled, 17-year-old local boy with crushed hopes, is humiliated by the film crew, and, depressed, puts stones in his pockets and drowns himself, this wry and exuberant social commentary tackles important themes and achieves a universality and significance that are rare in comedy.

Winner of the Olivier Award in 2000, this play by Marie Jones features fourteen characters played by two actors, whose role changes occur instantaneously. These include, among others, the roles of the film's star, Caroline Giovanni; Mickey Riordan, a 70-year-old local man whose only claim to fame is that he was an extra in The Quiet Man; Clem, a British Director; Jock Campbell, a Scottish security man; and Dave, a Cockney crew member. Requiring a variety of accents and quick-change artistry, this is a daunting play for all but the most ambitious director and most versatile of actors. The two actors reflect moods that range from satiric amusement at the silliness of the film industry to righteous anger at the insensitivity of the film crew, from poignant understanding of Sean's dreams to the guilt-filled helplessness of the friend who witnessed Sean's death, and from Charlie's hopeless cynicism about the possibilities of getting his own script produced to Jake's infectious optimism about "taking on the real world."

As the village and the film crew come together at Sean's wake and funeral, the themes of real life vs. reel life, the importance of dreams and need to keep working for them, and the acknowledgment that genuine respect must underlie meaningful human relationships permeate the play but never intrude. This is a comedy, after all, and as Jake and Charlie come to new recognitions about themselves and think about their future lives, the audience is there with them, rooting for their success. Mary Whipple

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The Broadway sensation tells the tragicomedy story of a movie location shoot in Ireland, and the delightful, touching characters caught up in it."An inventive and riotously funny comedy." - Mike Kuchwara, Associated Press

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