Judge says no witness dishonest in Irish theatre wrangle
None of the witnesses called during a courtroom wrangle over authorship of the West End hit play Stones In His Pockets was “dishonest”, a British judge was told today.
Andrew Sutcliffe QC, counsel for award-winning playwright Marie Jones, who penned what has become one of Ireland’s most successful stage plays, made the submission during his closing address on what is expected to be the final day of the hearing.
Ms Jones, 52, is contesting a claim in which she is being sued by Pam Brighton, a Belfast-based theatre director who claims she should be credited as joint author of the comedy.
Judge Mr Justice Park – who went to see the play last night at London’s New Ambassadors Theatre – has already said that he will reserve his decision in the case at the end of closing speeches by Mr Sutcliffe and Keith Garnett QC, for Ms Brighton.
Mr Sutcliffe said his submission in relation to the witnesses who had given evidence was that “none of them was dishonest”.
He told the judge: “They were all coming to this court to give their honest recollections of events as they perceived them.
“You are the best judge of whose recollection is more reliable.”
Ms Brighton, originally from Bradford, is claiming damages or an account of profits for alleged infringement of copyright and an injunction requiring her to be credited as joint author of the play.
Belfast-born Ms Jones and Ms Brighton, a director since 1969, first met in 1983 through their work in the theatre and were co-founders in 1991 of the DubbelJoint Theatre Company in Belfast, where the play was first performed in 1996.
Ms Brighton claims she made an “extraordinary” creative contribution to the play, which is about two extras working on a Hollywood film being shot in Co Kerry.
As the author of Stones, Ms Jones has won huge acclaim in Northern Ireland and internationally and the play has also scooped a number of awards.
When Ms Jones went into the witness box last week she told the judge: “Pam is not a writer and I never once collaborated with her other than in her capacity as a director.”
