BACK FROM THE BRINK WITH HELP FROM DAVID BOWIE AND STEVE COOGAN
To his legion of fans, David Bowie seemed untouchable, larger-than-life, the epitome of all that glitters and is actual gold, but Dublin actor, Stephen Jones, has seen another side to the late, great pop star who keeps Falling to Earth right on the stage in front of him every night.
The Northern Lights, Red Rock and Love/Hate star is currently touring with Eugene O’Brien’s one-man play, Falling to Earth – My Summer with Bowie – opening in Belfast this month – in which his character, part-time security guard Scut Kelly from Offaly, has a chance encounter with his idol and finds he has a vulnerable side, just like the rest of us.
“Scut, who is stuck in a rut and caring for his dad with whom he doesn’t really get along, gets an opportunity to meet Bowie, his hero, in real life and finds it a revelatory experience,” explains Jones, whose opening of the show in Clontarf marked his first time back on stage since having a stroke last July.
“He finds Bowie is just a human being facing his own mortality and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.
“Then, Scut has this idea that Bowie could maybe help him become Ziggy Stardust for a talent show in the town, with the aim of impressing a girl he has his eye on... it’s a lot of fun but I had to get to work on the Offaly accent – there are intricacies and nuances in there and I wanted to get it just right. I have such a strong Tallaght accent.”
Read more: Matthew Forsythe: Crafting a career from joinery to prime-time drama Blue Lights
Describing O’Brien as a “master playwright”, the 39-year-old actor and writer (he is currently working on the remaining episodes of season two of Northern Lights in which he also plays Lloyd, one of the lead roles) says the play races from humour to pathos to drama and is, at its beating heart, a story about humanity and hope.
Hope has been something high on his own agenda over the past year as he comes to terms with having had a stroke at the relatively young age of 38.
Scut has this idea that Bowie could maybe help him become Ziggy Stardust for a talent show in the town, with the aim of impressing a girl he has his eye on... it’s a lot of fun but I had to get to work on the Offaly accent
Stephen Jones
“It definitely did knock my confidence a bit,” he confides. “This show is 80 minutes long and fairly energetic, so yes, I was a little anxious before opening night in Clontarf on May 12.
“But after the show was over, I was texting my partner and my mam and telling them how good it felt being back on the stage; it felt like I was back in my old life again – it was a nice feeling.”
He had been walking back from the gym, of all places, last July and was crossing the Liffey in Dublin when he felt a jolt down his left arm, followed by numbness on his lip and then down his left side.
“It was really severe, like an electric shock, a buzzing almost,” he recalls.
“I went into a pub and had a glass of Coke and then it went away. I thought at that stage I might have done something in the gym. I went home and then half an hour later it was back again, this time in my arm, leg, head, all down my left side.
“I rang for an ambulance and was taken to hospital where I was given aspirin and had different tests carried out. The next day I had an MRI which confirmed it was an actual stroke – a small one, but not a mini one.
“I was told there is a difference. I don’t know why it happened, but I am obviously taking it seriously, eating more healthily and doing some courses with the Irish Heart Foundation as well as a few runs for them - I did a 100km run for them in February.”
He has a loop recorder implanted in his chest to monitor his heart rhythm over an extended period – “it has a three-year battery life” – but is confident the stroke is not related to his heart.
Falling To Earth: My Summer With Bowie by acclaimed playwright Eugene O’Brien comes to dlr Mill Theatre next month! 🎶✨An evocative and deeply personal story of music, longing, and self-discovery. ✨🎶 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “devastatingly good” …The Arts Review Brought to life by the powerhouse performance of Stephen Jones (Northern Lights, Into The Badlands, Red Rock, Love/Hate, Ripper Street), this gripping one-man show takes audiences on an unforgettable journey through a summer that changed everything. Scut Kelly feels like an alien in his own hometown. Single, loveless, and caring for a father who had never shown him much care, his only solace comes from the music of Ziggy, The Thin White Duke, the man who fell to Earth with his Spiders from Mars. But now, fate is about to intervene. In an extraordinary twist of events, Scut’s world collides with that of his idol, David Bowie. A once-in-a-lifetime encounter forces him to confront his dreams, his fears, and the painful reality of his past. Can he navigate this new planet of possibilities, or will he come crashing back to Earth? “A terrific performance by Stephen Jones lights up this eloquent new solo play.” Irish Independent “Quite beautifully written and equally beautifully played….” Sunday Independent 📆12-13 Jun 🔗Tickets: https://www.milltheatre.ie/events/falling-to-earth-my-summer-with-bowie/
Posted by dlr Mill Theatre on Saturday 24 May 2025
“There could be a million little reasons, but all the tests so far have been normal,” he reveals. “I wasn’t a big drinker, I didn’t smoke, I didn’t take drugs and there is no history of stroke in the family.
“I used to have some light-headed moments over the years, so there is a chance it could be related to a strange sort of migraine and they are looking into that.”
He was standing outside St James’s Hospital in Dublin “getting a breath of fresh air” and with his mum following the diagnosis when a call came through from his agent saying he had been offered a part in Steve Coogan movie, Saipan, about the events around Ireland’s 2002 World Cup campaign.
“Talk about timing,” muses the actor who studied English and History at UCD, followed by an MA in Creative Writing. “But in many ways, it was a good thing – I was up in Belfast filming two or three weeks later and it meant I had no time to sit around moping in the bedroom, being afraid of the world.”
Saipan - due for release later this year - zooms in on the dramatic breakdown of the relationship between Irish football manager Mick McCarthy and team captain Roy Keane, with Jones playing ‘Liam’, “an amalgamation of backroom coaching staff” and one of McCarthy’s (Steve Coogan’s) right-hand men.
“I’m not in every scene, but I have a couple of scenes with Steve Coogan and we got on really well,” he says.
“We went out to dinner together, along with [fellow Irish actor] Peter McDonald [who plays kitman Mick Byrne) and I told a story about the differences between people from Dublin and people from Cork and actually made Coogan laugh.
“I have met many famous people and usually my friends don’t care, but they were all over this - they were saying, ‘But this is different – this is Alan Partridge!’”
His trip back in Belfast again with Falling to Earth marks another ‘first’ in that it will mark his first time on stage at the Lyric.
We went out to dinner and I told a story about the differences between people from Dublin and people from Cork and actually made Steve Coogan laugh. I have met many famous people and usually my friends don’t care, but they were all over this - they were saying, ‘But this is different – this is Alan Partridge!’
Stephen Jones
“I filmed Saipan in Belfast, I did a play at the Waterfront and I’ve performed at The Mac, but I’ve never been on the Lyric stage, so I’m really looking forward to it,” says the actor who was engaged earlier this year to partner Raphaelle, a dentist from France.
“I love Belfast audiences – and I find there is a similarity in the sense of humour to Dubliners. Audiences, no matter where you go, are all very different; there are subtle differences.
“I don’t think it is as simple as rural versus urban, but you might find a joke lands every single night in Cork but will bring no laughs anywhere else. It is a strange phenomenon, but this is a universal play so the laughs should be fairly consistent.”
Would Bowie approve? Yes, he believes he would: “It’s a great tribute to him and even though he is such a big character, a big star, he doesn’t shy away from the darker moments in his life, from showing his vulnerable side, and there is great power in that.
“We meet him at a time when his health is failing and he is recording his final album; a time when he is reflecting on life.
“It is a great role to play – there is a lot of depth to it - and a Ziggy Stardust performance in the talent contest will bring the house down.”
Falling to Earth - My Summer with Bowie opens at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, on Thursday June 19 and runs until Saturday June 21. lyrictheatre.co.uk
2025-06-06T05:05:52Z