Synopsis
Defender of the Faith
$13
Published by Dramatists Play Service
5 Male 0 Female
In Stuart Carolan's debut play, an IRA family living in rural Armagh, Ireland, in 1986 come apart under the immense strain put on them when an IRA interrogator visits determined to find the informer in their midst
The father, his grown-up son, Thomas, and a long-serving farm hand, Barney, all fall under the suspicion of the menacing JJ from Belfast
The family's isolated farm becomes the setting for the frightening disintegration of the relationship between Thomas and his father as the pressure of the investigation and its results reopen the wounds of the already damaged family
Blackly comic and chillingly real, with an atmosphere taut with menace
"The writing achievement of this play is beyond intelligence, indicating an artist at work untroubled by contemporary notions about lines between politics and art" ~ Irish Times
" ... a marvelously charged and emotionally intense and menacing drama ... a deeply impressive debut by Carolan and a triumph for all concerned ... shows how the wounds of war scar the victors as deeply as the defeated" ~ Irish Examiner
"This frightening play should be required viewing" ~ Sunday Independent (London)