Stones in His Pockets: Hollywood comes to Ireland via Singapore!

PUBLISHED February 18th, 2014 11:00 pm | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 03:18 pm

The Stage Club is kicking off its 2014 season with a Singapore premiere of the award-winning Irish comedy / drama ‘Stones in His Pockets’ by playwright Marie Jones.  The play garnered many awards including the Laurence Olivier Award, The Evening Standard Award, and three Tony nominations including Best Play

The story concerns two Irishmen, Jake Quinn and Charlie Conlon who are working as extras in a movie being made by a Hollywood studio in County Kerry. They slowly tell the story of the effect this has upon the local community and especially upon the young man Sean Harkin and his family. After the unfortunate suicide of Sean Harkin the studio has to decide between either allowing the extras to attend the funeral or to continue shooting in order to avoid going over budget.

It is this conflict of interests that reveals how the studio seems incapable of recognizing the autonomy of the local community and rides roughshod over them by exploiting the glamour of fame and wealth. However, the make believe movies of Hollywood have little to do with the real-life drama of the poverty stricken villagers and it is their story that is told on stage.

The comedy in ‘Stones In His Pockets’ is mainly found in the profusion of offbeat and outlandish characters: Caroline Giovanni, the glamorous movie star who has an eye for the ‘natives’; Old Mickey, the only surviving extra from ‘The Quiet Man’ who almost dies of an heart attack at the thought of attending a funeral where no alcohol will be available; Simon the First Assistant Director whose authority is always being undermined, although unintentionally, by Aisling, his flirtatious Production Assistant. Aside from all that, the two actors in this piece, Edward Rhatz and Paul McCracken, will have the challenge of playing all 15 roles (both male and female)!

We stole some time with director Nick Kenny for his insights on this play:

Why did the Stage club decide to do “Stones In His Pocket”?

Since the Singapore Stage Club was established in 1945, it has always tried to bring new European drama to the Singapore scene. Although Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones isn’t new per se, we are very proud to give the play it’s Premier here in Singapore. Come the middle of March the Irish (and non-Irish) will be revving up for St Patrick’s Day, so an Irish play seemed the right thing to do. The play itself has won countless awards including Two Olivier awards, a Tony and when it was on in the West end it was neigh on impossible to get a ticket. It really is very funny and has a brooding mixture of tragedy and comedy.

It is said to be an “actor’s play” – where two actors have to play all 15 roles between them, including the women!  What are the challenges for you, as the Director?  And what are the challenges for the actors?

There are so many challenges to putting on this play that it’s hard to know where to begin. The play doesn’t entertain costume changes, wigs or make up so the ‘actor’s character transformations’ happen on stage in a split second often with the added complication of one actor having a conversation with himself as two different characters! Making these changes work has been the most significant challenge – but when the actor has something impossible to overcome the solution is often found in the absurd or hilarious.

Who are the two actors?

The two actors, Edward Rhatz and Paul McCracken are fantastic – both with their unique style and work brilliantly together. They have a wonderful way of feeding off each other and bringing each scene to life, I can’t thank them enough for all the hours and hard work they’ve put in, it really does make my life a lot easier. Edward is from England so not a native Irishman like Paul so we have had a huge amount of fun working on accents and Edwards ability to flip between a Dublin drawl and a sparky county Kerry accent constantly amazes me. Paul, originally from Northern Ireland, plays Charlie (also from Northern Ireland) and brings so much to the table it’s hard to imagine doing the play without him.

The audience in Singapore is going to comprise of a mixture of nationalities, including local Singaporeans.  Will they find the Irish brogue and the local Irish references a challenge?

I hope the audiences do find it a challenge – challenges are fun! You often hear people say they like “travelling”, clearly they don’t mean sitting on the plane or bus. I think they are referring to the visceral experience of exploring another country and it’s culture – which can be tough, requires a very brave and open mind but is ultimately very satisfying. Marie Jones’ play is all about that exact challenge she beautifully cleverly juxtaposes the American dream “Hollywood” with the realities of the people that live in the Irish countryside, and I hope we are doing her justice.

Have you seen this play performed elsewhere?

I saw it at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End where it remained for three years. It was here that I saw it and I’ve wanted to do the play ever since. This play drives to the heart of community: friends, family, family-roots. It reminds us of the importance of loyalty and a grounded sense of community in the face of adversity. These themes of community, loyalty and cultural tolerance will definitely resonate with Singapore audiences.

Thank you Singapore Stage Club for giving me the opportunity. Come see the play, you won’t regret it!

Stones In His Pockets will be on at the Alliance Francaies Theatre in Sarkies Road from 26 February to 1 March 2014.  For more information please visit www.sistic.com.sg and www.thestageclub.com