Playwright Marie Jones will celebrate another milestone in an already illustrious career with back-to-back shows at the Grand Opera House during January and February.
Stones in his Pockets, Jones’ hilarious tale of a rural community turned upside down by the arrival of a Hollywood film crew, makes a triumphant return to the Grand Opera House from Monday 23 - Saturday 28 January.
With the multi-award winning Stones going on to enjoy a critically-acclaimed West End run, Jones will be hoping to repeat the trick with her latest production – Fly Me To The Moon – which will also see the seasoned playwright make her directorial debut.
‘At its heart, Fly Me To The Moon is a tragedy and what happens to its characters is tragic - but if it wasn't, well then it wouldn't be so ridiculously funny’ explains Jones.
Investigating whether we are valued more in life or in death, Fly Me To The Moon stars Lynne O’Neil and Katie Tumelty as Francis and Loretta, two community care workers. Unknown to him, Davy, one of their elderly charges, has had a significant win on the horses.
When the cash-strapped women learn that Davy will not be around for a considerable time, they are faced with a mouth-watering dilemma...
Speaking at the show’s launch at the Grand Opera House last week, Marie Jones recalled how a weekend retreat at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig provided the inspiration for her latest play.
‘Lynne and Katie were frustrated at the lack of good roles for women and asked me if we could have a few days brainstorming’ she explains. ‘We gathered in my room, the bedroom of the Late Lady Guthrie’ recalls Jones.
‘We lit the big fire, cracked open a few bottles of vino, laughed until we cried and Fly Me To The Moon was conceived’.
Two years on, and following a UK tour in its one hour form, Marie Jones returned to the Tyrone Guthrie Centre to write the full length version of Fly Me To The Moon. ‘This time, there’s no big fire due to health and safety, and no Lynne and Katie, due to my health and safety - but as I sipped on my lonely glass of sauvignon blanc, I could still see those two, rolling round this big oversized bed, roaring with laughter’.
Produced by Martin Lynch and Joe Rea, Fly Me To The Moon opens in The Baby Grand at the Grand Opera House on Tuesday 31 January, running until Saturday 18 February.
Tickets are priced £12.00 - £15.00 and are available from Box Office in the theatre foyer, online at www.goh.co.uk or by calling 028 9024 1919.