What happens when two of Ottawa’s professional theatre companies both happen to have Irish plays going up written by the same playwright and directed by the same director? Well they throw an Irish themed shindig, naturally.
Director John P. Kelly with the cast from both of his upcoming plays.
In less than a week now, the popular play, Stones In His Pockets, from playwright Marie Jones goes up at The Gladstone, produced by SevenThirty Productions and directed by John P. Kelly. This two-hander is about two Irishmen working as extras on a big budget Hollywood movie shooting in a small Irish town. Director John P. Kelly has had an eye to directing this play since he first came to Ottawa eight years ago and considers it the culmination of all his work so far.
But. In just under two months, John P. Kelly has a second Irish play going up, this time at the Great Canadian Theatre Company and this time, Marie Jones’ latest play, Fly Me to the Moon. Fly Me to the Moon, also a two-hander, sees two home care workers try and scheme up a way to keep collecting the pension cheques after one of their clients drops dead.
Add one to the other and you get the “Fly With Stones” event that was held last week at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. There was Irish grub and Irish beer and Irish music provided by The Corktown Céilí Band. The community came out and packed the GCTC for the event and good times were had.
Director John P. Kelly addresses the large crowd assembled in the lobby of the Great Canadian Theatre Company.
The highlight of the evening’s entertainment was a script-off between the cast of both plays. Introduced by John P. Kelly, the cast of Fly Me to the Moon - Mary Ellis, Margo MacDonald - took to the stage to read an excerpt from the boys’ play, Stones In His Pockets. This was followed by the cast of Stones In His Pockets - Zach Counsil, Richard Gélinas - taking the stage with an excerpt of the girls’ play. The switcheroo was both hilarious and kept mercifully short by John P. Kelly - who likely couldn’t handle the butchering of various accents for very long.
Following the swap, the two casts did staged readings of a short scene from their own play to show the gathered masses at the GCTC what they could expect when the plays opened. Both casts and plays look to be incredibly funny and well worth attending.
It was also announced at the event that a special cross-theatre two-show package will be available that will allow customers who wish to see both Irish plays to do so at a discounted price of $60 for the pair. Interested parties can contact either box office (Great Canadian Theatre Company or The Gladstone Theatre) to ask about the Fly With Stones deal.
Here are some photos from the event. Visit us on Facebook for a larger gallery of images.
What did you think? Did you attend Fly With Stones? Which of the two plays are you most looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below.
About Allan Mackey
Allan Mackey is editor-in-chief of Production Ottawa, which, really, is too fancy a title. He also acts as show producer for Should You See It, making sure you get your answer in just about two minutes every time. He writes stuff and occasionally turns that stuff into movies. Keep being awesome!
