Reviewing Live Productions: Stones in his Pockets Stones in his Pockets is a highly successful play about a Hollywood film company shooting scenes of a new film in the Irish village of County

Navdeep Sahota Monday, 4 April 2005

Reviewing Live Productions:

Stones in his Pockets

Stones in his Pockets is a highly successful play about a Hollywood film company shooting scenes of a new film in the Irish village of County Kerry. The company has previously filmed other Blockbusters in this village and use the inhabitants as extras. The plot centres around the filming of The Quiet Valley and two extras, Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, who are excited about the opportunity to star in a film and getting paid £40 per day. The whole play is acted out by two men, performing the roles of five or six different characters each.

The performance was at the Bedford School Theatre. The stage is straight in front of the seats. The first five rows were on the ground and after that the seats were tiered. Prior to the beginning of the performance the stage was exposed. There was a big box in the middle of the stage and behind it was a projector screen. The image was blue and appeared to be the sky. At the front of the screen there were around twenty different pairs of shoes all lined up. This was interesting as I wondered why they were there and how they would come into effect into the play. There was nothing on the stage revealing how the story would pan out or where it was set.

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In terms of effects the play was very simple. There were no special light effects nor was there any dramatic music or sound. The light and sound were subtle and did not cause interruption from the performance. The two actors were also dressed plainly and their costumes were nothing fancy or elaborate. This was probably due to the fact they had to change characters a number of times so they did not need to wear any substantial as it would take the emphasis away from the acting and the audience would not be able to believe the change of ...

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The two actors gave admirable performances full of energy. Their different characterisations were carefully planned out and I was in awe of how easily they could adjust to being a different character. The two men, especially the actor playing Jake, gave first-class performances of female and elderly characters. They were very believable and towards the end of the performance I truly forgot that there were only two men on the stage. The actors spoke loudly and clearly so even the back of the theatre can hear them unmistakably. There were a couple of moments when the actors made obvious mistakes, in particular when one closed the box containing different clothes when his partner needed to remove something. A sharp look of content was given but the play did not hinder and both actors never flinched. They continued with relative ease and without causing their characters to become weaker.

The play is a comedy, yet I felt it did not sustain a humorous feeling throughout the play. There were some funny moments when the audience were all in hysterics: Jake and Charlie are being told how they must act in the final scene of the film, and also when Charlie does a comical Irish Jig. These were the highlights of the play.

Before the play began I was anticipating a very enjoyable performance. The play was funny with some good lines but the humour was not abundant as I expected it to be.

Also, I feel that the storyline was not brilliant. It was mediocre and without the brilliant acting performances and witty lines the play would have been poor. The actors make the play pleasurable with the quality of the characterisations. There were moments in the play when I did find myself becoming bored and losing concentration. The play could also cause offence to some as there is strong language used regularly. It did not faze me during the performance but other people were obviously distracted with the language used. The play may also be considered to be insulting to Irish people as it portrays them drinking heavily, swearing a lot and being greedy for money. Nonetheless I would still recommend this play to others as the acting could be describe as a treat to watch.