****

Wallace Shawn's plays are rarely performed here, and this double-bill from Gare St Lazare Players whets our appetite for further stagings. Two distinct strands of Shawn's work are represented: the exploration of cruelty in intimate personal relationships (Marie and Bruce), and the inquiry into the basis of morality (The appendix to Aunt Dan and Lemon performed). In both, Shawn's writing is impressively, effortlessly, lucid. Marie and Bruce spit endearments at each other through gritted teeth, on a day, like any other, when Marie might leave Bruce but probably won't.

Christian Erickson and Judith Burnett take to this psychological battleground with wit and conviction, and, in the second play, Erickson also rises to the challenge of bringing some life to 40 minutes of philosophical speculation on the relationship between personal comfort and evil. He, and the playwright, manage to make us feel very uncomfortable indeed.

Until October 19th, 8.15 p.m., then touring to Cork city, Kilmallock, Listowel, Castletownshend, Kilkenny and Kilworth.