Marie Jones facts for kids

Sarah Marie Jones, born in 1951, is a talented actress and playwright from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She started her career as an actress. Later, she became famous for writing plays. Her plays have been shown in many places, including Broadway in New York City and all over Ireland.

Starting Theatre Groups

Sarah Marie Jones helped start the Charabanc Theatre Company in 1983. This was a group of all women who traveled around performing plays. They wanted to create more acting roles for women. Their first play, Lay Up Your Ends, was very popular. It was about a strike by mill workers long ago. Sarah stayed with Charabanc until 1990. After that, she helped create another theatre group called DubbelJoint in 1991.

Famous Plays by Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones has written many plays for the stage and television. One of her most famous plays is Stones in His Pockets. This play is about a Hollywood film crew making a movie in a small Irish village. It shows how this event changes the lives of the people in the village. Stones in His Pockets was performed on Broadway and received great reviews.

She also wrote five plays for the Replay Theatre Company. One of these was Under Napoleon’s Nose (1988).

Other Notable Works

Some of her other plays include:

• Tribes (1990)
• The Hamster Wheel (1991)
• Fighting the Shadows (1992)
• Wingnut and the Sprog (1994)
• A Night in November (1994)

A Night in November is a play about a time of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as The Troubles. This play was performed in London's West End and in New York City.

In 2008, she wrote the story for a new musical called The Chosen Room. It was performed in Belfast by Youth Music Theatre UK. She wrote the second part of this musical, which was performed again in 2009.

Other plays she has written are Women On The Verge Of HRT, Now You’re Talkin’, and Weddin’s Weeins and Wakes.

Fly Me To The Moon (2012) was performed in New York and Belfast. It tells the story of an 84-year-old Frank Sinatra fan named Davy and his two helpers, Francis and Loretta.

In 2018, the Lyric Theatre, Belfast put on her play Dear Arabella. This play had three monologues, which are long speeches by one person, for three different women.

Film Acting Roles

Besides writing, Sarah Jones is also an actress. She is well-known for her role as Sarah Conlon in the film In the Name of the Father. She also appeared in the movies Closing the Ring and Philomena.

Awards and Recognition

Sarah Jones has received several awards for her work:

• In 2001, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy for Stones in His Pockets.
• She received the John Hewitt Award for her great contribution to culture and arts in Northern Ireland.
• In 1999, she won the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Award for Best Production.
• She was given the OBE award in 2002. This is a special honor from the British government.
• In 2006, the University of Ulster gave her an honorary degree called Doctor of Letters.

Family Life

Sarah Marie Jones is married to Ian McElhinney, who is also an actor from Northern Ireland. They live in Belfast and have three sons.