1st Irish Closes RAT IN THE SKULL, 10/2

Ron Hutchinson's searing drama "Rat in the Skull," a mind-bending dissection of the psychology of enemies locked in an unending cycle of aggression and retribution, is being staged by Wallfly Theater Company as part of 1st Irish 2010, New York's only all-Irish theatre festival. With the Irish television star Tom C. O'Leary and Colin Stewart heading the cast, "Rat in the Skull" runs from September 22 to October 2 at The Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street. Ian Belton is the director, and Roderick Hill serves as creative consultant.

When it was last spotted in New York in 1985, "Rat" was presented at The Public Theater, in a transfer from London's Royal Court Theatre where the play had its premiere. In his New York Times review, Frank Rich called it "a raw descent into the morass of Northern Ireland. An authentic and savage political play... that drops the full panorama of an eternal, triangular stalemate into place."

"Rat in the Skull" is an amazing snapshot of the Irish Troubles during their most incendiary period. Why does a detective from Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary (played by O'Leary) botch the interrogation of a suspected I.R.A. bomber (Stewart) held in a London jail, an act that leads to his release? Is it a mistake, or another kind of sabotage? In flashbacks that take us deeper into the story's emotional maze, the antagonists are entwined in a dance of death that somehow, though calibrated for mutual destruction, bonds them as blood brothers and Irish martyrs.

In something of a role reversal, O'Leary -- a Dublin native -- plays the Protestant detective from the North, while Stewart, who hails from Derry, straps on the bomber's identity. "Rat" fields a cast of four.

Best known for his role as Dr. BrenDan Daly on Irish national television's Fair City (on which he appeared for six seasons through 2009), O'Leary is now based in New York. His Production Company, Wallfly Theater Company, was he formed in Dublin. This is the company's 8th production overall and its second in New York.

"Rat in the Skull," which The Evening Standard calls "an electric jolt of a play," performs 12 times at The Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street, from September 22 through October 2, on the following dates: Wednesday to Friday September 22, 23, 24 at 8pm; Saturday September 25 at 3pm & 8pm; Sunday September 26 at 3pm; Monday September 27 at 8pm; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday September 29, 30, October 1 at 8pm, and Saturday October 2 at 3pm & 8pm. Tickets, which are $18, are available via SmartTix, by phone at (212) 868-4444, or online at www.smarttix.com. For more information visit www.1stirish.org

Coordinated by the New York-based Origin Theatre Company, 1st Irish 2010 (the 3rd annual edition) runs from September 7 to October 4, and features plays by 16 mostly contemporary, living Irish playwrights in venues across New York. The festival concludes on Monday October 4 with an awards ceremony at which the festival's jury will honor the outstanding performances and productions, and a new Audience Choice Award for Best Play will be inaugurated.

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