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Articles
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Stones in His PocketsBy Marie Jones A virtuoso piece for two actors is probably the best way to describe Stones in His Pockets. According to the programme, Conleth Hill plays Charlie Conlon and Sean Campion Jake Quinn, but this is misleading: they actually play another six characters who keep reappearing throughout the play, and numerous others who appear just the once. And the transition from one character to another is instantaneous: posture, facial expression and voice alter and behold! the next character is there. The story is simple: a film company is making a feature in a "scenic spot" near a small village in Co. Kerry and the locals are employed as extras (at £40 a day plus food, the best money they could ever earn). Jake is local and has just returned from America where his attempts to start a new life have failed (although we never quite find out why) and Charlie is a "foreigner" from elsewhere in Ireland, yet another failure, but in his case we are given he full story. The play shows us the impact of the film company on the village and its people and, in particular, on Charlie and Jake. Hilariously funny, it mixes - in typical Irish fashion - a degee of sentiment and near tragedy in with the comedy. The ending gets perilously close to sentimentality but, because we now know the two main characters and realise that their plans are doomed to failure, just avoids that trap. Hill and Campion are superb. To hold the stage for nearly two hours, swapping from character to character, requires enormous energy, and theirs never falters. The audience is swept along and the length of the final curtain call and the number of people standing to applaud show their appreciation of a thoroughly enjoyable play. Stones in His Pockets runs until 12th August.
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