It was warm in the Theatre Royal for a one-night visit of the hit show Stones In His Pockets where the opening curtain was delayed for several minutes due to parking problems and apparent ticketing glitches.
Simon Delaney finally made it to Waterford in this show and he shared billing with Conor Delaney as he ranged through over twenty roles to tell the hackneyed tale of a movie being filmed in Co.Kerry. This award winning show has gone through various rewrites since its Dubblejoint incarnation back in the eighties and West End and Broadway outings have polished the work to a smooth crowd pleasing consistently cliché and stereotype abound but two Delaney’s were well in control even if it was cruise-control.
The contrasts in height worked well and the angular Conor caught well the crooked physicality of the extra from The Quiet Man and his female characters were a joy. Simon, as the stockier actor was very animated, even if I did not like his pastiche of an American bimbo actress, Caroline Giovanni, but he well made up for this with his exploration of the tragedy in the work. His sensitivity worked so well, and the transition from cheeky-chappy to sadness and sympathy made me more aware of the sting in the tale of this show, than previous viewings had brought out.
