Sarah Marie Jones (born 1951) is a

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-based actress and playwright. Born into a working-class Protestant family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing. Her plays have been staged on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

as well as across Ireland.

Charabanc / DubbelJoint

She helped found the Charabanc Theatre Company, an all-women touring group. It was created to help counteract the lack of roles for women, and which produced a series of collaboratively written original works. The group’s first play, ''Lay Up Your Ends'', based on a strike by mill girls in the early part of the 20th century, was an immediate hit. She remained with Charabanc until 1990 when she left and co-founded the DubbelJoint theatre group in 1991.

Plays

She wrote five plays for the Replay Theatre Company, including ''Under Napoleon’s Nose'' (1988). The play for which she may be best-known is ''

Stones in His Pockets ''Stones in His Pockets'' is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland. The play is a tragicomedy about a small rural town in Ireland where many of the townspeople are extras in a Hollywo ...

'', a play based on the idea of a Hollywood film company filming a movie in a small Irish village and the resulting impact on that community. This was performed on Broadway to critical acclaim. She has written a number of stage and television plays, including ''Tribes'' (1990), ''The Hamster Wheel'' (1991), ''Fighting the Shadows'' (1992), ''Wingnut and the Sprog'' (1994) and ''A Night in November'' (1994). ''

A Night in November ''A Night in November'' is a 1994 monodrama written by Marie Jones about one man's struggle with national identity during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Plot summary ''A Night in November'' follows Kenneth Norman McCallister, a Protestant do ...

'', about

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, was performed in London's West End and in

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off-Broadway. Most recently, she wrote the book for a new musical, ''The Chosen Room'', performed in Belfast in August 2008 by

Youth Music Theatre UK British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT), formerly Youth Music Theatre UK, is a UK-based national performing arts organisation founded in December 2003. BYMT provides music theatre training to young people aged 11–21 and a stepping stone to drama ...

. She then wrote Act 2 of this musical, which was staged again the following year in 2009 at the same venue. ''Fly Me To The Moon'' (2012), performed in New York and Belfast, tells the story of Davy, an 84-year-old

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

fan and his two carers Francis and Loretta. In 2018 as part of the theatre's 50th anniversary season the

Lyric Theatre, Belfast The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre's current Executive Producer is Jimmy Fay, previously the founder and Artistic Director of Bedrock Productions. His ...

produced the world premiere of ''Dear Arabella'', a series of three monologues for three women.

Film roles

As a film actress, she is best known for playing

Sarah Conlon Sarah Conlon ( Maguire; 20 January 1926 – 19 July 2008) was an Irish housewife and a prominent campaigner in one of the most high-profile miscarriage of justice cases in British legal history. She spent decades clearing the names of her husba ...

in ''

In the Name of the Father IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Indepen ...

'', a film about

Plays written by Jones

* ''The Government Inspector'' (1993) * ''A Night In November'' (1994) * ''Women On The Verge Of HRT'' (1995) * ''Stones In His Pockets'' (1999) * ''The Blind Fiddler'' (2004) * ''A Very Weird Manor'' (2005) * ''Rock Doves'' (2010) * ''Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story'' (2010) * ''Fly Me To The Moon'' (2012) * ''Dear Arabella'' (2018)

Awards

* 2001 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy - 'Stones in His Pockets' * John Hewitt Award for outstanding contribution to culture, tradition and the arts in Northern Ireland * 1999 Irish Times/ESB Theatre Award for Best Production * Awarded the OBE in 2002 * Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from University of Ulster in 2006

Marriage and family

She is married to Northern Irish actor

Ian McElhinney Ian McElhinney (born 19 August 1948) is a Northern Irish actor and director. He has appeared in many television series in a career spanning more than forty years; notable appearances include ''Taggart'', '' Hornblower'', '' Cold Feet'', and '' ...

. They live in Belfast and have three sons.

References

External links