Defender of the Faith

photo: Carol Rosegg

Irish Rep's latest offering, a tense intermissionless thriller in which a small IRA cell must sniff out the informer among them, is sufficiently grim and dark: even when characters are just sitting around the kitchen table talking, there's the sensation that violence could break out at any moment. The dialogue has the ring of authenticity, the staging is lean and effective, and the cast is solid. What the play ultimately lacks is suspense (I could tell in advance where it was going to go) and a satisfying conclusion (the play's coda is a pat cop-out).

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