To Have to Shoot Irishmen review - harmonies haunt shocking war drama
(The Guardian Culture News)

Omnibus theatre, LondonTumbling poetry and lively dialogue power Lizzie Nunnery´s dynamic song-led show set during the Easter RisingTwo Irish men sit on opposite sides of a prison wall in Dublin. Inside the cell is Frank, a republican pacifist who refuses to join the Easter Rising. Outside stands Anglo-Irish teenager William, a new recruit to the British army. The two cannot see each other but they listen to, laugh with and console each other. By the end of Lizzie Nunnery´s fine new play, Frank will have died on William´s watch. It is just one of countless stirring scenes in a song-led show that boils over with the chaos of war.Nunnery has a strong track record of working with historical material and creating something that feels fresh and dynamic on stage. To Have to Shoot Irishmen is based on the real-life murder of Irish pacifist and Manchester Guardian journalist Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. Nunnery wears her research lightly and expresses her ideas in tumbling poetry, lively dialogue and haunting song. Not a syllable or beat is wasted. Director Gemma Kerr´s production never feels overstuffed and there is an easy rhythm to almost every scene. Continue reading...