Playwright Marie Jones, looking forward to the upcoming revival at The Barn Theatre, has talked about the 25th anniversary of her award-winning tragicomedy Stones in his Pockets. The revival is set to open next week, directed by Jones’ son Matthew McElhinney. 

The tragicomedy started life at a West Belfast theatre festival in 1996. She was inspired by her career as an actor, which started with her being an extra on an Irish movie set. She was told by a fellow actor at the time that she should “write a play someday about the two extras and not about the movie stars, about the people”. 

The Lyric Theatre in Belfast reached out to Jones and her director husband Ian McElhinney to stage the production in 1999. Due to budget limitations, the set was “just a backdrop of Ireland and a load of shoes at the back of the stage” but that “from the opening night in the Lyric in Belfast we kind of knew it was special.” 

Since then, Stones in his Pockets has enjoyed successful runs at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dublin, in the West End, on Broadway and across the globe, receiving two Olivier awards and three Tony Award nominations. 

The upcoming 25th anniversary production is set to run at the Barn Theatre from 27 July to 22 August, directed by Matthew McElinney. Marie Jones has said that her son has “grown up with it, he’s lived with it, with us and his father as an actor and director… and then he went into theatre himself and started to direct and because he has a very analytical mind, I knew that he would never let anything get in the way of the narrative even through his particular production has different production values that will be very important to him.” 

The production stars Shaun Blaney as Jake and Gerard McCabe as Charlie, with design by Gregor Donnelly, choreography by Fleur Mellor, lighting by Sam Rowcliffe-Tanner, sound by Harry Smith, AV by Benjamin Collins and Alex Tabrizi, and costume supervision by costume supervisor. 

Tickets for Stones in his Pockets can be purchased here.