Review: STONES IN HIS POCKETS, Barn Theatre (Livestream)
Photo credit: Danny Kaan
A two hander play becomes an ensemble piece in the talented hands of Shaun Blaney and Gerald McCabe as they bring the 25 year old Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones to the Barn Theatre, Cirencester.
With direction by Matthew McElhinney, the duo not only tell us the story of a Hollywood production company in Ireland but allow us in the audience to become part of it as fellow extras, helping to forge extra emotional connection to the characters. This is achieved through some really creative audience interaction and even the "directors" of this production company directly address us.
Blaney and McCabe are a wonderful pairing, helping make it as easy as possible to mould many, many distinct characters from themselves, just by taking a step to the right and rearranging their jackets (designed by Gregor Donnelly). They have the ability to take us from a Hollywood superstar actress to a disgruntled extra in a split second, whilst maintaining the incredibly fast paced flow of the story.
The way this script is written and its fast paced nature means that it is their excellent sense of character that this piece truly relies on as without it, we would be truly lost and struggling to keep up.
Though this play is now in its 25th year of being performed, the material does not show any signs of ageing, in many ways it is more poignant now that it was then, as we are all well aware of how fake Hollywood can be in its romanticisation of certain aspects of life. And how massive corporations have made things harder for smaller businesses. A running joke in this production is that Amazon put one of our main characters out of a job.
Though there is comedy, there is also great tragedy. This production finds a brilliant balance between the two, managing to heighten the comedy with tragedy and vice versa.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Callum Wallace
Stones in his Pockets plays at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester until 22 August 2021. Tickets are available here.
