Civil war brings devastation to one close-knit family in Deirdre Kinahan’s latest history play for Fishamble theatre company. In a production that presents conflicting viewpoints in kaleidoscopic form, we see how the bonds between two sisters, and between husband and wife, are pulled apart under extreme duress.
Commissioned as part of Ireland’s Decade of Centenaries programme, it focuses on the period from the end of the war of independence in 1921 and the truce that followed, to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that precipitated the bitter Irish civil war. While the opening scenes are necessarily heavy on exposition, director Jim Culleton and the tremendous cast succeed in balancing the factual background with vivid, gripping drama.
