Oh, that “Stones in His Pockets” is a sneaky one.
The play, currently on stage at Live Theatre Workshop, will make you laugh. At times really hard. But then it hits you: this isn’t really a comedy.
The subversive little play is about economic hardship, a sort of colonization of Ireland’s County Kerry by Hollywood, despair, and, finally, hope.
Stephen Frankenfield and Keith Wick take on the roles of Jake and Charlie, respectively, as well as a whole slew of other characters, including a Scot and a famous Hollywood actress.
Charlie and Jake are extras in the blockbuster being filmed in their rural Irish village. The extras are exploited and dismissed, tossed aside like bits of trash. But the economy is bad and the work is needed, so people sign on.
We delight as Frankenfield and Wick slip into one character after another, introducing the often funny, always quirky folks in the town and on the set. But when one fired extra, a doped-up young man named Sean, fills his pockets with stones and walks into the river and drowns, the extras revolt. They want to attend the funeral. But the movie-makers, on a deadline and a budget, don’t want to let them off to go.
Frankenfield and Wick are experts in comedic timing, and they slip into different characters and accents with ease. They use the spare set and a few props to distinguish person and place.
But the pacing of the Rhonda Hallquist-directed piece meant that a play that should have been fast and smooth became clunky.
“Stones in His Pockets,” however, is a thoughtful, funny piece in the hands of two keen actors. A few flaws should not keep you away.
Catch the play, by Marie Jones, at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 18 at Live Theatre Workshop, 3322 E. Fort Lowell Road.
Tickets are $17 to $23. Masks are recommended. For more
information, visit livetheatre
If you ever wondered what the green dress from "The Wiz" looked like up close, the colorful look of the Ziegfeld Follies costumes, or wanted an extensive view on the elements that make a groundbreaking musical, then the newly opened Museum of Broadway is for you. Broadway's first museum opened this week and provides fans with a combination of history, memorabilia and education. "Showboat," Rent," "Company," and "A Chorus Line" are but a few of the shows that have elaborate displays that let fans get up close and personal. Museum Co-Founder Julie Boardman says one of the hardest parts of setting up the museum was figuring out the story they wanted to tell. "There's so much history. So how are we going to organize it and make it in a way the people you know, really with the guest experience in mind? So we've landed on this idea that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. So had all these people not pioneered, broken ground, taken risks along the way, we would never have the art form and the art that is created today."
