Director's play input 'huge'

Pam Brighton directed the first production in 1996

A theatre director taking legal action over the copyright of a hit play had a "huge input" into the production, an actor has told the High Court in London.

Belfast-based Pam Brighton is claiming joint copyright ownership of the play Stones in his Pockets, which until now has been known as the sole work of award-winning playwright Marie Jones.

Ms Jones is contesting claims being made against her by Ms Brighton and by the DubbelJoint Theatre Company.

The production is currently playing in the West End and went on to become a worldwide success.

The case, which began its hearing on Wednesday at the High Court in London, centres on two versions of the play, in 1996 and 1999.

Stones in his Pockets was originally produced by the DubbelJoint Theatre Company in Belfast in 1996.

The actor Tim Murphy told the court on Friday that Ms Jones had written part of the script, while some improvisation had taken place in rehearsals between the actors and Ms Brighton.

Belfast playwright Marie Jones is defending the action

Mr Murphy, who was replaced by Sean Campion in the revised production, was called by Ms Brighton's lawyers.

Reviews

Also in the proceedings, lawyers for Ms Jones quoted theatre reviews from the first performances in 1996, which described the direction as "lacking focus" and "too slow".

In a review of the second version in 1999, directed by Ms Jones' husband, Ian McElhinney, one review quoted said the difference was "startling", and that a certain amount of rewriting had helped the production.

Later on Friday, Ms Jones later stepped into the witness box to contest the claims.

She said: "Pam is not a writer and I never once collaborated with her other than in her capacity as a director."

"Pam was the artistic director for DubbelJoint and director for every play I wrote for DubbelJoint, so her input was received on every production, but in no sense did it ever exceed that of any other theatre director working on one of my new plays."

For every play she wrote for the company, there was a written agreement ensuring "that the copyright in the work remained with me as the author and that my work could not be altered except with my approval".

Since its initial run in Belfast, the play has been produced all over the world and won a major London award.

The case continues.