Stones in his Pockets

Synopsis

Jake and Charlie are two 'extras' on a movie blockbuster being filmed in Co Kerry. Is it just a bit of 'craic', a sniff of glamour, forty quid in your hand and then back to porridge, or will the effects be longer lasting? And how will they weather the storm that is brewing between the film-makers and the local community?

Our Review:

21 July 2003

"People don't go to the cinema to be depressed, that's what theatre's for." So says Clem Curtis, the director of the million dollar movie The Quiet Valley, but if Stones in His Pockets is anything to go by, he couldn't be more wrong.

This uplifting and entertaining story details the effect of a film crew's descent on a rural village in Kerry. The locals become extras, each one star-struck and dreaming of the big time.

There's Jake, Charlie who fancies himself as a screenwriter, Old Mickey who's famed as one of the last surviving extras from The Quiet Man, as well as numerous others who interact with the crew and cast, among them Caroline Giovanni, the starlet with an ear for fancy earrings if not accents. But, for the villagers, the novelty of earning £40 a day plus grub turns stale when reality strikes, shaking them from their fantasy and forcing all to question their values.

Marie Jones' script is sharp and witty; most importa...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (62.252.192.10) - 12 May 2004:

No problem with the acting - energetic and generally well played - but the material ..... really! I laughed out loud twice and smiled about four times - not a great hit rate for two hours of supposed comedy. The pace also means that any potentially poignant moments are completely lost (and not through the actors' faults either). I've given 2 *s as I suspect without the hype, I'd have been less disapointed than I was. Sad that tired musicals apart, this is the sort of drama that warrants long West End runs while quality is uncommercial. This is good Edinburgh Fringe material - but not funny or clever enough to deserve such a run as it's had - IMHO...

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