Celtic Tiger makes this play a farce

In a dingy council flat off the Walworth Road in south London an Irishman and his two adult sons live in chronic isolation and spend their days repeatedly acting out - complete with wigs and props - events that caused them to leave Cork suddenly 20 years ago.

We learn that only younger son Sean (Tadhg Murphy) ever leaves the flat and that they are trapped inside their father's dangerous fantasy.

Events soon turn dark in Enda Walsh's absurdist The Walworth Farce, given a high-energy production by Galway's Druid company and with committed performances by the cast of four, but nothing is believable and the violent denouement predictable.

The manic, Marx Brothers style quickly grates and what one supposes is Walsh's message - the alienation of emigrants, Ireland's lazy complicity in its begorrah image abroad - is at least a generation out of date in the age of the Celtic Tiger.

Until 26 Aug (www.traverse.co.uk).

The Walworth Farce
Traverse, Edinburgh Fringe