Stones In His Pockets, Grand Opera House, York, November 5

Since then, Marie Jones's tragicomedy has played Broadway, spent four and a half years in the West End and on tour and been seen by more than two million people around the world.

The latest 60-date tour visits the Grand Opera House, York, for one night only tomorrow (WED) with Jones's tale of a quiet Irish community being turned upside down by the arrival of a massive Hollywood movie shoot.. The cast of Conor Delaney and Stephen Jones play 15 characters between them, ranging from Jake and Charlie, two cheeky lads intent on stardom, to a Hollywood goddess.

"This is a brand new tour; and it's certainly the first time it's gone around the UK in quite a while," says Ian. "The producers felt it was about time to do it again, as they knew how much people had enjoyed it and thought it would go down well again. People love the magic of it; if they suspend their disbelief, their imagination can travel as far as the characters do."

Ian last directed Jones's play on British soil in 2003. "So it’s a long time between British productions for me, but I went back to the play to direct it in Iceland two years ago when it was done in Icelandic. The amazing thing is that if you know it well in English, you feel you know what’s being done in any scene in any language. I’ve done the play in a few other languages too: Swedish and Japanese, which I don’t speak, though I do speak French and German.

“In the case of Iceland and Sweden, there was no language problem; there was direct communication because they all spoke English, but in Japan I did need an interpreter.”

Working with a cast of two, in this case Conor Delaney and Stephen Jones, Ian has to bring out myriad characteristics in their performances. “First of all, they have to be very flexible actors, having a range both physically and vocally, and they have to be able to change themselves recognisably very quickly, so they have to have signature characteristics for each role, beyond their main characters, Jake, who is ostensibly the leading man, and Charlie, who is the comic foil,” says Ian. “You have to feel that, as individuals, the actors are naturally generous because, they’re co-workers who depend on each other.”

Meanwhile, Ian is revelling in his Game Of Thrones regular role as Barristan Selmy, a knight of the Kingsguard. “This is the fifth year now, and they reckon there are seven years of filming,” he says. “You’re never safe and you never know who’s going to die or why, but the comforting thing is that in principle, you have seven years’ of work, which is a great feeling.”

Stones In His Pockets, Grand Opera House, York, November 5 at 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york

HBO series Games Of Thrones is screened on Sky Atlantic.