REVIEW: RepStage's 'Stones' Worth Its Weight in Gold

            Earlier this year, Everyman Theatre presented a play (The Cripple of Inishmaan) at least in part about the effects of an American filmmaking team on the inhabitants of a small Irish town.  With the opening of Stones in His Pockets, RepStage has a play that has similar subject matter.  And both productions are among the very best seen on local stages in 2006. Other than that, both plays are distinctly different.

            This beautifully written and even more beautifully realized play by Marie Jones offers the two actors in the cast the opportunity to flex some serious acting muscles, and in Bruce Nelson and Michael Stebbins, RepStage has hit pay dirt in tour-de-force proportions.  Both actors have had their share of local award-winning acclaim (Nelson is a multiple Helen Hayes Award-winner; Stebbins has dozens of national credits and is currently RepStage's Artistic Director) and bring that expertise and an enormous amount of chemistry to the stage.  And since each actor is playing several characters (sometimes simultaneously), decent acting skills must also be supplemented by an innate trust and interdependence.  Again, both actors bring that and more to the table.

 

           The main characters are friends and co-extras on the movie set, Charlie Conlon (Nelson) and Jake Quinn (Stebbins).  As their days are spent mostly waiting, there is plenty of time for the pair to observe the action and comment on its effect on small-town Ireland/>/>.  For most of Act One, they are a riotously funny pair, playing equally funny, quirky characters ranging from a cranky old man local to a Hollywood/> starlet to various on-set personnel.  Act Two is much more somber, involving a very sad event and its effect on the town and the movie being made.  The title of the play comes from this event, and is an extremely sobering, dramatic and affecting plot point.

            Expertly directed with a seamless flow by Lee Mikeska Gardner, the play never really stops.  She has also reined in both actors who walk a fine, fine line between underplaying and going way overboard.  This control is highly effective; in lesser hands the play could have been lost in a sea of one-upmanship and ego.  Worse yet, had so much attention on the transitions between characters not been paid, as it has here, the play could be very plodding and hard to follow.  Thankfully, that is not the case at all.

            Stebbins has made a career of late playing roles that are really multiple roles all at once (he appeared in last season's Fully Committed, which required similar skills).  It seems he learned much from that experience, creating distinct, dramatically interesting characters here.  Nelson, long a favorite of local audiences, me included, does not disappoint here, either.  He wears each character he plays like a skin, peeling each on and off like a chameleon.  Both are a marvel to watch - their give and take, not to mention their timing, are impeccable.  And watching each character come to life with a simple costume, posture or vocal change is truly a marvel to watch.  Bravo to both actors!

            Completing this lovely evening is a great set that is at once detailed and specific and general enough to accommodate several settings at once mirrors the acting and overall style of the show.  The lighting (by Lisa L. Ogonowski), costumes (by Melanie A. Clark) and sound (by Chas Marsh) combine to create a cinematic and still highly theatrical atmosphere.  The pre-show announcements and post-show credits are done in film and add a comic and conceptual framework for the entire show.  In short, the technical aspects of this show are in tight sequence with the concept of the entire production.  It is so nice to see.

            Patrons really should try to arrive early so as to see the commercial made for the show, as well as the hilarious outtakes.  It adds to an already wonderful night out - don't miss it!

 

PHOTO of Stones in His Pockets (Bruce Nelson (L) and Michael Stebbins (R)) by Stan Barouh courtesy of RepStage.

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