All of Cedar City's a stage

Two productions that many Utah theatergoers have likely not seen before are the most intriguing works at the 2005 Utah Shakespearean Festival. One is the regional premiere of an acclaimed new work by an Irish playwright, and the other is an all-new adaptation of a classic by a contemporary of William Shakespeare.

With six productions on two stages, and a third venue for matinees of "Romeo and Juliet," the festival continues daily except Sundays through Labor Day weekend.

Overall, the festival's company of players — actors and actresses from across the country, as well as some from Utah — is arguably the strongest in years, with several performances that you'd expect to find in a Tony Award-winning theater.

Donald Sage Mackay in the title role of "Doctor Faustus" and Ben Livingston as his servant, the evil Mephistopheles . . . Brian Vaughn and David Ivers plunging their way through 15 different characters in "Stones in His Pockets" . . . Vaughn as King Arthur in "Camelot" . . . Ivers as one of the reluctant scholars in "Love's Labour's Lost" . . . Corliss Preston as a feisty Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream" . . . Paul Hurley and Tiffany Scott as "Romeo and Juliet" . . . and Leslie Brott, John Tillotson, Melinda Pfundstein, Michael Sharon and Anne Newhall in multiple roles, are just a few among the many who are delivering memorable performances in this year's festival.

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STONES IN HIS POCKETS, Randall L. Jones Theatre. Running time: two hours (one intermission).

If there is one play in the absolutely not-to-be-missed category this summer, it's the regional premiere of Marie Jones' poignant Irish drama, "Stones in His Pockets." It's a real showcase for mesmerizing performances by Brian Vaughn and David Ivers, two of the festival's longtime audience favorites.

The central roles they play throughout the piece are Jake Quinn (Ivers) and Charlie Conlon (Vaughn), two chaps in their mid-30s who are extras on a movie being filmed in County Kerry, Ireland. It's a project that has both disrupted and brought together the lives of those in the normally pastoral region.

Meanwhile, Jake has dreams of being a big film star, and Charlie has written a screenplay he knows will be a big hit.

In addition, Ivers and Vaughn portray another dozen or so colorful characters, both Hollywood personalities and hometown Irish folks. And all are done with just slight changes in costume pieces and shifts in voice, mannerisms and gestures.