Most of the time it’s the stars who get all the attention. But Irish playwright Marie Jones turned all that around with her story about two extras on location in a small Irish village. The Alley’s April production of Stones in His Pockets starred Todd Waite and Jeffrey Bean as the quintessential Irish blokes, working for 40 quid a day and sneaking extra slices of lemon meringue pie from the food cart. They broke our hearts with their Hollywood dreams and small-town means. But Waite and Bean did more than bring these lovable extras to life — they actually played every part in this multicharacter show, including the movie’s bratty female star and a local drug addict who commits suicide during filming. The production offered an astonishing display of the art of acting, with both performers morphing from role to role with a flip of the wrist and a turn of a head.
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2003.