Binlids or, more properly, How the West Was Won, is a simplistic, revisionist history of the republican struggle in West Belfast from 1969, which aims to show that all of nationalist West Belfast stood foursquare behind the IRA and Sinn Fein from the beginning of the conflict in the north until the present day. Using four separate stages and the floor, it utilises republican songs, speeches, memories of the dead, black humour and individual scenes of state violence against both people and prisoners to simultaneously justify and legitimise the IRA's armed struggle and republican resistance.

The authors, JustUs, a community-based drama collective working in conjunction with Marie Jones of Dubbeljoint as a script consultant, conveniently ignore any facts which might disprove their thesis and have produced a work with all the drama and objectivity of AP/RN's War News. Short shrift is given to the fact that the SDLP's Gerry Fitt ruled the political roost longer than republicans care to admit. Nothing is made of the cost of IRA actions on ordinary Catholics in life and limb. IRA actions are approved of with no second thoughts. In one particular scene, an unarmed British soldier is shot dead. This was met with loud applause from many in the audience.

Further, the entire thrust of the play is to assert without hesitation that there was one and only one way in which to challenge the state - through the IRA's campaign. Yet, with senior republicans now admitting that a united Ireland is on hold and that the agenda is now one of "renegotiating the Union", the authors may well have been advised to ask themselves: Was it all really worth it? Was it all really necessary? Some reflection on the cost of violence suffered and inflicted would not have gone amiss.

A powerful piece of propaganda; a poor piece of theatre.