At first glance this play appears to be another emotionally provocative look at the troubles in Northern Ireland. But people are more than the politics they daily live under, and this striking piece makes that important fact powerfully apparent. 
      The story centres upon the lives of nine Northern Irelanders and the part that the Troubles play in their everyday lives. Each has his or her own view about them and the cease-fire designed to help bring them to an end, yet they gladly get on with their normal lives and relationships – although when it comes down to it, so the play seems to say, people are more likely to put their politics before their lovers. 
      10 Rounds, the renegade paramilitary soldier, is supposed to be on cease-fire, yet he is terrorising the local population with vigilante punishments carried out in his "Stew Room". He also has a peculiar smell of farm fertiliser about him – and anyone who knows about terrorist activities knows that fertiliser is a useful and cheap ingredient of bombs. The police and the politicians alike want to see him put away, but they fear the breakdown of the fragile peace agreement if that happens. The rumours about his fertiliser-smell spread from prostitute to client, lover to lover, husband to wife, until the rumour goes full circle. Each individual uses the information for their own personal purposes, but none act on it themselves. In the end it is an innocent person who pays the price.
      The delicately iterated symbolism employed throughout the piece, and the romantic liaisons central to each scene, adds metaphoric strength to the central theme. Brid Brennan's performance as the Republican Politician/Temptress was especially good, her play with the devious aspects of her character preserving a disguise right until the end – which is an ending that will stay with you for days.
Elizabeth Shenton