Our Stones - Meet the 'Other' Director

It has become a bit of a running joke between Stones In His Pockets Team and myself that when I call and ask for the Director they ask me which one.  The show tells the story of a Hollywood Film Crew who have come a rural corner of County Kerry to film their latest Blockbuster - the Quiet Valley.  As the story unfolds we discover just how oblivious the film crew and their famous stars are to the lasting impact they are having on the village.

The film crew includes assistant directors and of course the film's director, Clem Curtis.  This week the cast sent me this update from Clem.  He shares an update on how filming is going and invites you to come and see him in action.


Opening night is now less than 3 weeks away and I really appreciate the continued access the Griffin Players have given me to Bekka Prideaux (the Play's Director), her cast Alex C Brewer and John O'Leary and the production team that support them.  It is an action packed few weeks for them and I am looking forward to next week's update.

Kevin Doherty

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Performances at 7.45 each evening and at 2.30 on Saturday afternoon

Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk and you are advised to purchase them as soon as possible

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.

Our Stones - Competition Time!

This week I wanted to share the details of an exciting competition that the producers of Stones In His Pockets have just launched.

Cows feature heavily in the show and to celebrate this the Griffin Players Committee have made the following announcement ..

'Competition time............to promote our forthcoming play we want you take a 'cow selfie' up load it to this group Griffin Players and the Committee will choose a winner on 6th October. 
IMPORTANT please tag your photo with #stonesinhispockets #cowselfie to enter.'

To enter visit their Facebook Page here

Can you beat this early entry?

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Performances at 7.45 each evening and at 2.30 on Saturday afternoon

Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk and you are advised to purchase them as soon as possible

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.

Our Stones - An Update on Rehearsals

The summer holidays and cast sickness and work commitments have meant that  Stones In His Pockets Team, have been squeezing in rehearsals as an when they can - and this week I caught up with Director Bekka Prideaux to find out how things are going.

'September is when our rehearsal schedule really intensifies and we are in good shape thanks Kevin.  The cast (John O'Leary and Alex C Brewer) are doing a great job.  Their performances are developing nicely - as is their ability to juggle all the characters they play!  We still have a lot of work to do but I am confident that in a month's time when we meet our audiences it will be in fantastic shape'

'We were excited to be joined by some of our technical team at rehearsals this week.  The technical team are a vital part of our show, almost being extra cast members.  They will really help us dart seamlessly between scenes.'

'The last few weeks have been very tough for us all emotionally - we lost a dear dear friend who was a member of the last show we all worked together on.  She was a huge inspiration to us all and we hope we can do her proud with this show.'

The cast get along well - the characters however ...

I have been very impressed with the talents and the attitude of the cast - yes they laugh and joke a lot, but they are also working hard.  At times I have totally forgotten that everyone comes to the rehearsal space after a full day in their paid work.

I asked Bekka if anything was concerning her 'Plenty' she said 'We are just introducing a few props and as the cast start to rehearse without being so reliant on their scripts things are always a bit bumpy and frustrating for everyone but they are doing really well.'

'The other thing that concerns me is ticket sales - the space we are performing in is much smaller that the Griffin Player's Audiences are used to and I worry that if people leave purchasing a ticket until the last moment they will miss out.'

Having seen the rehearsals so far I think this is a show you are going to want to see.  

Join me next week when we are going to be catching up with another director - one from the show!

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Performances at 7.45 each evening and at 2.30 on Saturday afternoon

Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk and you are advised to purchase them as soon as possible

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.

Talking Irish with the Cast of Stones In His Pockets

In following the cast of Griffin Players' Stones In His Pockets one of the challenges they have disused at length is the Irish Accents.  The play is set in rural County Kerry, where the local's accent is quite broad - and that is just one of the accents they have to learn!

The cast are also aware that it is not just them, but also the audience who have to understand the Vernacular, the audience does too.  

Pronounciation is also something which is discussed in the play both by the locals and the film crew.  The dialect coach notably telling the films leading lady not to worry too much since if her accent is too precise no one will understand her.

Since the cast are trying to get to a degree of accuracy they thought it would be helpful to provide you with this handy translated guide.

I will leave you to judge it for yourselves!

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Performances at 7.45 each evening and at 2.30 on Saturday afternoon

Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk and you are advised to purchase them as soon as possible

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.

Our Stones - Finding Out More About The Play Itself

I have been following the progress of the Griffin Players Stones In His Pockets team for a few weeks now, heard how they are feeling about the play, seen the characters start to come to life, met their VIP guests and started to fall in love with the play.  So this week I thought I would find out a little more about Marie Jones’ play.

The play shares with us what happens when a Hollywood film crew comes to a small sleepy village in County Kerry in Ireland.  Local man Jake and Charlie from Ballycastle in N Ireland are extras on the film and they recreate the filming and the town.  The actors (in this case Alex C Brewer and John O’Leary) become a wide range of characters, there are a wide range of locals, old and young all of whom seem to be related somehow.  Then there are the film cast and crew, male, female, Irish, Scottish, English and American.  That is quite a challenge for the actors I am sure you will agree.

Marie Jones paints a sharply satirical portrait of filmmaking, the customs and egocentricities of artists in action set in a vivid and well detailed Irish landscape.  Her commentary then cleverly shows us the impact of the invasion, the shrewdness and the nativity of the locals, the exploiters and the exploited.

Underlying the clever comedy (verbal, situational and physical) is the poignant story of Sean Harkin – a dreamy local lad who let down by the rural economy turns to drugs and following a public incident with the film’s leading lady drowns himself.  He is found with the stones in his pockets that are the play’s title.

Marie Jones with her husband Ian McElhinney and son Matthew
Photo Courtesy of the Belfast Telegraph

In it’s earliest form the play was presented by the Dubbleljoint Theatre Company for the West Belfast Festival in 1996.  It then moved to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast where Marie Jones’ husband Ian McElhinney directed the piece, the script being modified heavily during rehearsals.  In 1999 the play moved to the Edinburgh Fringe and then, the play now fully developed moved to the Tricycle Theatre in London in August 1999.  It moved to the West End (New Ambassadors) in May 2000 and was so successful that the run was extended and moved to the Duke of York’s Theatre where it stayed for 3 years.  The show also played on Broadway from 2001 with the original cast of Conleth Hill and Sean Campion.

Stones In His Pockets has been a phenomenal success, winning the Irish Times Award for Best Production in 1999 and then both the Olivier  and Evening Standard Awards for Best New Conedy when the play moved to London. The play has also been produced all over the world and remains both funny, relevant and fresh each time it is produced.  The unique blend each set of actors and directors bring ensure it stays this way and I for one can’t wait to see what this team create.  From the passion and energy I have seen in rehearsals I know for one thing for sure it is going to be a lot of fun.

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  

Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk and you are advised to purchase them as soon as possible

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.

Our Stones - An Important Rehearsal Visitor

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry. 

There are now less than 8 week's until Alex C Brewer and John O'Leary take to the stage as Charlie and Jake in Marie Jones' comic tragedy.  Rehearsals can be hard work with such a small team and the cast received a welcome boost when Neil Paskin, a member of the alternate cast for the 2005 professional tour of the show.

At the time Neil described the play as 'one of the trickiest and most daunting plays I've ever performed in' and 'a pleasure to both watch and perform in'

Neil played Jake on the tour and the cast were certainly impressed at how many of the lines he could remember, although Alex is getting a bit fed up of being the only person who does not know his opening speech after Neil rolled out Charlies lines as easily as the ones that had been his own!

The cast had all sorts of questions for Neil about how he had approached the show and what the challenges had been.  His answers filled them with energy as they all worked on some of the characters together.

Director, Bekka Prideaux, said the visit had been invaluable and that they all really appreciated Neil giving up his Saturday morning to work with them.  

Watching Neil work with the cast was a pleasure and I loved watching the characters appear and disappear before me.  I am looking forward to seeing more as the rehearsal period continues.

Join me next week as I take a look at the play's history

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk

Our Stones - A Visit To TADS Theatre

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry. 

This week Kevin accompanied the cast as they went to see the theatre they will be performing in for the first time.

This is the first time Griffin Players have performed at TADS in Toddington.  I asked Director Bekka Prideaux why they choose to take this venue.

'When I first saw this show I thought I would work fantastically well in a small intimate venue and ideally one where we could perform in the round.  I am thrilled that the wonderful team here at TADS agreed to let us use their lovely theatre as a guest production. 

I also think it is a great opportunity for Griffin's to share what they do with a wider audience, and it is not too far for their regular audiences to travel.

I have been to see shows here but this is the first time I have been involved with a show here and it's great to get a sense of the space without another show in it.  I am thrilled that we are going to be able to put the action right in the middle of the audience.  I hope it will give everyone who comes a real sense of being part of the action.'

It is also going to be the first time that cast members John O'Leary and Alex C Brewer have performed in this theatre and they seem rather excited at the prospect.  Both spent the evening wandering around the space grinning and soaking up the atmosphere.  I think it is fair to say they are very happy with the decision to perform here and to do the show in the round.

Next week the cast tell us about the chance they had to rehearse with Neil Paskin, one of the actors from the professional tour of this show.

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.co.uk

Our Stones - A Peek At Rehearsals

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.  

This week Kevin asked for an insight into rehearsals.  This is what he recieved


Next week Kevin accompanies the cast as they visit the theatre they will be performing the show.


Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.com

Our Stones by Kevin Doherty - An Interview with the Cast

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.  This week Kevin interviews the cast.

Kevin: Could you tell our readers a little about yourself?

John O': Well actually I come from a rather big Irish family. My mother was from Enniscorthy in Wexford, My father like many true Irish men was born and raised in North London, but he still loves a pint of Guinness! His father was from Kerry, and between them they have helped me develop the character, accent and drinking skills required for this role!

Alex: Like JohnO my mother was from Ireland, she was born and raised on a farm in Norther Ireland until the family moved to Swindon when she was a teenager.  I have always loved theatre and I tend not to take the world too seriously, but I am due to get married later this year. 

Kevin: You have both played a range of roles, which has been your favourite? (could you also provide a list of some to mention)

John O': To take on such a number or roles in one play (I think 7 altogether) obviously I need to draw on my experiences from previous roles. Whilst a lot of people have suggested tapping into my various Panto characters to draw inspiration, I am looking on my roles of Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps, Jack Worthing in the Importance Of Being Earnest, and of course townsperson 15 in the Witches of Eastiwick - being my favourite roles, I believe they will provide the inspiration I need.  In the former 2roles, I was actually directed by Bekka Prideaux, so these have helped prepare me for the process I will go through working with such a progressive, pragmatic and pro-biotic director.

Alex: I have had the good fortune to play roles from corpses to panto dames to Kings.  I have always enjoyed the comedic characters such as Norman in Table Manners and the Policeman in 'Allo 'Allo, most, but do also enjoy the challenge of a more serious role such as Richard the Lion Heart from Lion in Winter. so I am looking forward to pulling on all my previous role to play all the characters that the brilliantly bodacious Bekka is asking me to play

Kevin: What attracted you to the role?

John O': I believe the personal challenge of working on so many characters within one play, with so many different accents, is very exciting. Also working with Alex I believe will be an unparalleled experience. It was also nice that I got the part - if I auditioned and wasn't offered the part I believe it would have not been as attractive.

Alex:  I was lonely and welcoming 8 characters and the rest of the team into my world sounded good.  I knew of the play and have always been intrigued by the challenge presented by the multi roll scripts such as this. 

Kevin: What do you think of Ireland?

John O': Ireland is truly one of the most stunning and exciting places I have ever been. I love the people who have always made me feel at home even though I'm an outsider. Although a word to the wise, don't bring too many pairs of shorts when you visit as you will not need them!

Alex: .I will be possibly controversial and enjoyed their whiskey and having been to N Ireland a few times I have always found great joy in its beauty only surpassed by looking at my fiancée.

Kevin: What can we expect from you in Stones in His Pockets

John O': I believe acting, comedy, humour, some serious moments, and hopefully the right lines!

Alex: Beyond dubious accents, and scenes of a manic nature I am hoping that it will all come together into a highly enjoyable event for audience.


Next week Kevin asks Director Bekka Prideaux to share a short insight into how rehearsals are going.

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.com

Our Stones by Kevin Doherty - An Interview with the Director

Our Stones is an on line mini series by RTE Arts Correspondent Kevin Doherty.  As part of his exploration of Dramatic Arts in Rural Ireland he is following the cast and crew of an upcoming play – Stones In His Pockets.  The play, a comic tragedy by Marie Jones, is set in a small town in County Kerry.  Kevin starts by interviewing Director Bekka Prideaux

Kevin: Bekka, you are probably best known for your productions at the Little Theatre in Dunstable, but it has been a while since we say you in the director’s chair.  What persuaded you to come back for this production?

Bekka:  The short answer would Katy Eliott, Chair of Griffin Players.  Like most things in my world it started with coffee!  We ended up talking about shows and she told me about the show and said that following my successful production of Patrick Balrlow’s The 39 Steps, the committee had asked her to talk me about it.   Having given Katy lots of reasons why I couldn’t do it I agreed to read the script – she is very persistent.  When I did I fell in love with it and I am thrilled to be bringing this show to life.

Kevin: Is this the first time you have worked with The Griffin Players?

Bekka: It is my first time as Director for them, but I have helped out backstage with many of their shows and been assistant director on a couple, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and The Vicar Of Dibley.

Kevin: What is the show about?

Bekka: On one level it is the story of a village that has been taken over by a Hollywood film crew.  The locals and the crew have very different views of Ireland.  There are some amazingly funny moments created by this as well as some tragic ones as we see the impact the film crew has on the village.   On a deeper level it is also the story of two people finding their vocation

Kevin:  What do you see as the main challenges with this show?

Bekka:  My initial concern was casting the show – all the characters we meet are played by just two actors, so they have to be very versatile!  Now we have cast our two wonderful actors, the biggest challenge is going to be creating all the distinctive characters that they play, each play a range of ages, people from a range of places and both male and female characters.   That and keeping the cast from making each other laugh – I have worked with them both before, so I know how challenging that is going to be!

Kevin: The show is set in Ireland, have you ever been?

Bekka: I have indeed, both for work and pleasure, and hope to visit the wonderful countryside and my many friends there again soon.

Kevin: What can we expect if we come to see the show?

Bekka:  You can expect to laugh, to cry and to see two brilliant performers who will take you into their world, make you welcome and ensure you enjoy your time on the film set with them.

In the next episode Kevin interviews the cast of the show.

Griffin Players Present Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones from 6-8 October 2016 at TADS Theatre in Toddington.  Tickets are available at www.griffinplayers.com