Throw a stone into a lake... it sinks. Throw the right shaped stone at the right angle and it skims the water, flying through the air.

Something similar happens when dreams meet reality

A Hollywood film is being shot in rural Ireland, bringing much needed employment to people struggling to make a living from the land. The story of what happens when these two worlds collide is told by two of the film’s extras, who make up the “peasant” backdrop to the fictional historical drama.

Seeming optimist Charlie Conlon with a script in his pocket, resigned and realistic Jake Quinn, newly returned from a failed attempt to make it in New York, both hope that the film will offer them a way out of their dead ends. Toss in a few lemon meringues, forty quid a day and the opportunities to gawp at gorgeous self-absorbed stars and it seems as though life couldn’t get much better for these two extras as they bounce through the ups and downs of their encounters with the film personnel.

A tragedy happens that impacts everyone in the town, but the self-absorbed movie machinery barely slows down, causing the two friends to seriously rethink their priorities in life. So, they decide to take things into their own hands and tell their own story.

Winner of the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Marie Jones’s tragicomedy is a grimly joyous mixture of laughter and tears, like an old man’s Guinness.