Stones in His Pockets review – immersive revival of the rural Ireland film shoot tragicomedy

Barn theatre, Cirencester
Marie Jones’s 1996 hit play is given a spectacular, Hollywood-style makeover by her son Matthew McElhinney, though the momentum of the drama suffers

Throw a stone into a lake; it sinks. Throw the right shaped stone at the right angle and it skims the water, flying through the air. Something similar happens when dreams meet reality, in Marie Jones’s award-winning tragicomedy Stones in His Pockets, first performed in 1996.

A Hollywood film is being shot in rural Ireland, bringing much-needed (but short-term) employment to people struggling to make a living from the land. The story of what happens when these two worlds collide is told by two of the film’s extras, who make up the “peasant” backdrop to the fictional historical drama (with just two actors on stage playing all 15 characters).

Stones in His Pockets is at the Barn theatre, Cirencester, until 14 September, then tours until 2 November

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