Stones in his Pockets

Saw the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre's production of Marie Jones' STONES IN HIS POCKETS today. It's a recent (2002?) comedy about a big Hollywood movie being filmed in a small Irish town. The gimmick is that all of the parts are played by two actors who indicate character changes largely by accent, speaking style, and physical bearing. It's a funny play, albeit one with a "message" or two about authenticity, the similarity between colonialism and multinational capitalism, and Irish identity.

On the recommendation of a graduate student, I had one of my classes read the play last year, and I'm having my summer students do the same even though the focus of our class is writing about Pittsburgh. So it was me, five of my six students, five graduate students who like the play, and my wife. This is what passes for a date these days, although to be fair we actually had lunch, just the two of us, before the play. I was impressed by the production: great direction, and the actors were just fantastic. The humor and characterizations were a little too broad for my taste at times, but when there's one actor playing eight different parts it's necessary. I liked the theater (the basement of the Stephen Foster Memorial at Pitt), too. Sadly, I think the play closed today, so if you're interested in attending you're SOL.