ShoeString Productions returns to the stage with Marie Jones’ Stones in His Pockets. Directed by Kathi E.B. Ellis, the production showcases Shoestring actors Lee Look (Charlie and others) and Doug Sumey (Jake and others) as two extras on a movie set who meet all the other personalities involved in making the movie.

As much as this is a tour de force for the two actors, Ms. Jones script also comments on the insidious, and blatant, effects of the Hollywood machine on hitherto off-the-beaten-track communities. The Americans are interested in things Irish inasmuch as this will sell the movie – not because of the inherent integrity of place or history. As for the Irish characters, mid-level in the film’s hierarchy, they’re caught between working for the machine and being Irish…It’s the oldest extra who draws the parallels between the historical-romantic movie being shot and the consequences of actions taken in and around the set today. “You know imagination can be a damned curse in this country” says one of the minor characters in Stones in his Pockets. Ms. Jones’ imagination and sharp observations make this palpable as we follow Jake and Charlie around the set of “The Quiet Valley”. Stones in his Pockets won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in London, and was also produced on Broadway.