I'll Be The Devil- TNT

Since it lost its permanent London base, Royal Shakespeare Company productions have been popping up all over the place. A short season at the Tricycle kicks off with Leo Butler's violent drama, set in Limerick in 1762, which focuses on the cruel indignities inflicted on the Catholics by the occupying British army. It's a situation complicated by the presence of Irish soldiers who (having converted to Protestantism) prove quick to turn on one of their own to demonstrate their new loyalty. Thanks to Lizzie Clachan's design, Ramin Gray's production looks good as it moves from rough peasant cottage to wasteland to brutal public house brawl, but the narrative sacrifices clarity for bluster. The convoluted language tends to alienate, reducing sympathy for Derbhle Crotty's dispossessed widow Maryanne as she begs her secret soldier lover to secure a passage to England for their simpleminded offspring. There's a surfeit of on-stage urinating, a crucifix ends up where no crucifix was ever meant to go, a pig gets beheaded and human eyes are gouged. Only with the appearance of John McEnery's icy English Colonel do either writer or director show any sign of restraint in this bleak glimpse at one of many troubled periods in Ireland's history.
Tricycle, Kilburn High Rd, NW6 (020-7328 1000). Until March 8. £18- £10