Same play, same actors, 19 years on

They may have a few more grey hairs since 2005, but Hugh Neill and Mike Williams still have the same charisma on stage together.

Early next month, the pair are putting on the same two-actor show in Nelson, with the same director, that they performed exactly 19 years ago.

Hugh and Mike felt a sense of déjà vu when they started rehearsing ‘Stone in his Pockets’ earlier this month with director Arnott Potter.

“It’s amazing that it’s nearly 20 years since we’ve done it,” Hugh says, who admits he doesn’t quite remember all his lines yet.

Mike, who moved to Hamilton nine years ago, has come back to Nelson for the show and says he’s got a “bit of a head start” over Hugh, as he performed the play with another actor last year.

“Hugh’s got a bit of catching up to do,” jests Arnott.

Mike’s recent performance sparked the idea of heading back to Nelson for a reprise with Hugh and getting Arnott back as the director.

“I had a huge amount of annual leave I needed to take anyway, so I thought I could pop down here and use up some Airpoints,” Mike says.

‘Stones in his Pockets’ is an Irish play that revolves around two locals who are playing extras in a Hollywood movie that’s being filmed in Ireland.

“The play is about their experience on the movie set, and brings in aspects of a Hollywood perception of Ireland and the somewhat romanticised view of Ireland that they portray in the movie, compared with the reality of life for those two people and all the other local people in the community,” Arnott says.

“While it’s basically a comedy, there is also a serious undercurrent to it.”

Mike and Hugh are taking on their same roles, and between them play 15 different characters.

Mike says in 2005 they performed the play in Tākaka, Murchison, Hokitika, and the Suter in Nelson.

“It’s an interesting experience, actually… some of the rhythms and relationships between the various characters that we’ve got are coming back. But with the time that’s passed, we’re also probably better actors.”

Impressively, Hugh, Mike, and Arnott have piled up collectively close to 150 years of community theatre between them.

“It’s not often that you get to repeat a play with the same actors and same director. That’s very special,” Hugh says.

The joint production between Nelson Theatre Collective and Nelson Musical Theatre will be taking to the stage at Red Door Theatre on Atawhai Drive from 3-5 October and 10-12 October. Tickets are available here.