What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1483945
4 WHAT'S UP! NOVEMBER 13-19, 2022 Stones Continued From Page 3 Ford and Herzberg selected Shipman and Jeffers in part because of their previous experience with TheatreSquared. Shipman was Mr. Marks in "Apparel" and Slank/ Hawking Clam in "Peter and the Starcatcher," among others. Jeffers was previously in "A Christmas Carol" at T2 and in off-Broadway productions of "Julius Caesar" at the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Macbeth" and "The Rover" at New York Classical Theatre. They were confident that they could bring brilliant comic sensibility and truthfulness across an array of characters and strong emotional connection to their roles, Ford says. "Stones in His Pockets" revolves around two guys who meet while doing work as extras on a Hollywood film being shot in County Kerry. Shipman's main character is Charlie, from Ballycastle in Northern Ireland, who has closed up his DVD shop and begun to tour Ireland, finding work as he goes. "I think I play eight characters — some locals and some involved with the production of the film," Shipman says. "Our director has talked a lot about how many of these characters are in a struggle for their personal value, being devalued and not feeling like they have control over their own life." He loves this production because it's one that kind of sneaks up on you, and because it challenges and fulfills him in a way that he hasn't encountered recently. Even if you've seen "Stones" elsewhere, there's a good chance that TheatreSquared's version is a little different. Ford and Herzberg spoke extensively with playwright Marie Jones via Zoom while she was at a writing retreat in Ireland. They discussed a recent, successful version of the play directed by Jones' son, Matthew McElhinney, in Belfast. Ford knew he had updated the script, but Jones was able to bring him up to speed on what had been changed and gave permission for TheatreSquared to use those unpublished dialogue changes in their production. They also learned pitfalls to avoid and what the playwright loved most about the play herself. "It was gratifying to hear much of our own deeply held philosophy quoted back to us," Ford says. "Like the best comedy comes when actors play the reality of their stakes, not when they play for laughs. "We left the conversation feeling like we were on the right track and that we'd made a fast new friend across the pond."