Stones in His Pockets a rock solid success

What has made Stones in His Pockets such an enduring success is its appeal to the imagination of audiences, says director, Ian McElhinney, who is married to its author, Marie Jones.

Translated into 30 languages and performed all over the world, the play is a tragicomedy about a small rural Irish town which is overrun by a Hollywood film crew shooting a film and employing many of the locals as extras. There are some 15 characters — but only two actors.

“Ordinarily, when you go to see a play, an awful lot is presented in front of your eyes,” says McElhinney. “There’s a set which gives you a real sense of the world you’re in. Every character is played by an individual actor. With Stones is His Pockets you have effectively a bare stage with two actors and yet a whole world in rural Ireland is created. There’s the countryside, the bar interior, the dressing room and the star’s bedroom.” McElhinney imagines that everyone sees the play differently. “I think that’s part of the magic.”

The latest production stars Stephen Jones and Damian Kearney. McElhinney says that casting the play is challenging.

“You need actors who are very accomplished in traditional acting skills. They also need to be technically proficient. Not all actors have the necessary versatile technical skills. They also need to have great vocal range and control over accents. Physically, they need to be flexible to be able to create scenes in space. The actors never leave the stage so every transformation is presented in front of the audience’s eyes.

“If I’m honest, we have had varying ability in the quality of the actors we’ve cast over the years. Some have been very good while others have struggled more. I feel like I have a very good team in this particular production.”

The play began life as a Dubbeljoint Production, premiering in the West Belfast Festival in 1996. “Because money was tight, it was stipulated by the theatre company that whatever we came up with had to be a play for just two actors. That first production didn’t make any waves. The production as we know it was first done in 1999” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show went on to London’s Tricycle Theatre. It then transferred to London’s West End and was such a success that it played there for three years.”

McElhinney, who plays Knight Barristan Selmy in the HBO series, Game of Thrones, likes to combine acting with directing. Being in a creative couple works. “Essentially, we trust each other. Marie is very good at delegating and doesn’t come into the rehearsal room all the time.”

Jones has written the screenplay of Stones in His Pockets and Boyzone’s Ronan Keating is lined up to star in the film, which McElhinney will direct. “We’re still at the stage where we haven’t managed to raise the money. Even with a brand as successful as this play, it’s still very difficult to get the money. I hope the film will go ahead.”

The screenplay is very different to the play. “Every character is cast individually so instead of a cast of two, there will be a cast of about 15. Because there won’t be the transformation that happens on stage, the film will rely on the thrust of the story.”

One thing McElhinney is sure about is that he doesn’t want to lose control of it. “We don’t want to go down the big studio route. Once you go down that route, you lose your independence.”

* Stones in His Pockets is at the Everyman from March 31-April 5.