Irish Humor fills "Stones"

It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.
Brendan Behan

Being Irish, I have an abiding sense of tragedy which sustains me through temporary periods of joy.
W.B. Yeats

Marie Jones' play "Stones In His Pockets" is filled with comedic insights that are intimately tied to language, and that bring us repeated laughs of the belly shaking variety. This type of humor is characteristic of the Irish. What a treat it is to watch how the characters of a small Irish village react as a large Hollywood movie arrives to shoot their epic, historical drama "on location". At the same time we witness the drama of a rural village and a countryside that can no longer escape the changes that are being pressed upon it by the modern world. It is this combination of comedy and pathos that is the most powerful attraction of "Stones".

Then there is the performance: the play is a tour de force for two actors, who portray all of the characters in the story, shifting rapidly from one character to the next without ever leaving the stage. Most of the time they do this without the help of make up or costume changes. It is a fantastic feat of acting that, if done properly, will leave the audience moved and amazed. Luckily, this production has two of the area's finest actors, Nils Haaland and Nick Zadina. Nils has graced many of the area's stages over the last twenty years, including playing Charles Starkweather here at the Playhouse, as well as Ebenezer Scrooge on the Playhouse's Midwest tour of "A Christmas Carol". Nick is also no stranger to Omaha audiences having worked on almost every stage in town over the last fifteen years, including his multiple award winning performance last year as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf in "I Am My Own Wife." When you combine actors of this caliber with a great comedy that is also powerful drama, you have an evening of must see theater.

This article was written by Kevin Lawler, director of Stones In His Pockets. The show runs October 17-November 16, 2008. Tickets are available at 402-553-0800, 888-782-4338 and online.