Director Abigail Isaac Fine has given audiences a worthy production of Jones’ famous play, perhaps the greatest sign of her talent being her ability to render the many shifts in character and location so seamless that the audience can’t help but go on the whole journey, nearly effortlessly. Stones in his Pockets is a treat, and yet another reminder (if any were needed) of the humane wit behind contemporary Irish theatre.
As the star-struck, ambitious Charlie, Josh Sticklin is just the sort of idealistic youngster that, well, movies are made of; his subsequent turn as a moderately self-absorbed starlet laboring to learn a proper Irish dialect is equally priceless. Matthew J. Keenan’s Jake is more grounded but far from resigned to his life in the village, and his ability to switch gears to become other characters-including the Oldest Surviving Film Extra on the Planet-is a master class in itself.
