Irish Times writers review Lovers at the Village Arts Centre, Kilworth, and rock band The Rapture at the Village, Dublin.

Lovers

Village Arts Centre, Kilworth

The early work of Brian Friel, as exemplified in this Island Theatre Company production, offers a bland assertion of the playwright as God. Of the two plays presented under the single title the second, ostensibly slighter one is Losers - and it is the more interesting in its depiction of a middle-aged couple mummified by their failings into caricatures of domestic tyranny behind the lace curtains.

Because it is a recited story rather than anything organic, the frenzy of the couple's sexual grapplings becomes grotesque - and unlikely - and we have to accept the subsequent transformations because we are told they happened. If this seems a little random - and it does, despite the excellent performance of John Anthony Murphy, supported by Joan Sheehy's efforts to redeem a thankless role - it is nothing to the arbitrariness of the fate of the young couple in Winners, a simple and affecting portrait of teenagers whose love, loyalty and anticipation of the future are their only armour against a world crueller than even they know.

For Mag the lace curtains seem a symbol of liberty; for her fiancé, Joe, they indicate a kind of cosy doom. Georgina Miller and Emmet Kirwan are convincing in their resilience, little knowing that the playwright, in the guise of a boat, a lake and a cloudless summer day, has plans for them. Dolores Lyne's set makes good use of a tiny stage (in a very comfortable and attractive theatre), although Gerard Meaghar's lighting might try harder to suggest the brilliance of a summer hillside.

Friel is not faultless, and Terry Devlin, the director, might do more to suggest the atmosphere of the times: set in 1966, these are now period plays, and they need a little help if their innocence and impact are to survive.

Touring until February 28th

Mary Leland

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The Rapture

The Village, Dublin

We've read the hype, we've heard the singles and we've namechecked all the influences; now it's time for The Rapture to deliver on the promise of their name and take a roomful of Dublin fans to the edge of ecstasy. The Village is a heaving mass of humanity, musos and minor celebrities, a measure of the buzz generated by this quirky New York quartet. Tonight Wexford Street is downtown Manhattan, and the bright lights are about to be turned on.

The Rapture don't do boring old rock 'n' roll. Their sound is a well-stacked hero sandwich of jazz, dance, avant- garde and post-punk, topped with a few slices of Beefheart, Bowie, The Cure and Giorgio Moroder. Guitarist Luke Jenner handles the high, yelping vocals and choppy riffs, while bassist Mattie Safer underscores with a mid-range bark and subway-train bass lines. Drummer Vito Roccoforte plays human beatbox, and keyboard and saxophone player Gabe Andruzzi plays the mad brass monkey, shadow-dancing around while bashing a cowbell and rasping out the sax lines.

They start gently with Infatuation, the tightly wound bass and guitars slowly unravelling into a loose, ambient jam; the chattering of the crowd gradually dies away. Soon the gang of four pick up momentum as their strange brew starts to gel, and they become more confident and relaxed, although the tinny sound takes a while to solidify. Between the disco-punk workouts The Rapture slip in a couple of anthemic tunes, Open Up Your Heart and Love Is All. It's not exactly stadium-shaking U2 stuff, but heard in a dingy Bowery basement club it would be pretty uplifting.

In a display of expert pacing the band takes it to the floor with the pumping beats of Sister Saviour, Olio and House Of Jealous Lovers: the party is in full swing. The Rapture are not rock's saviours, but they could salvage a dull night out.

Kevin Courtney