At swim two birds

Factory Theatre, Sligo Nov 3-14 8pm €18/€14 071-9170431

"Tell me this,” asks the protagonist’s uncle in Flann O’Brien’s exuberantly experimental novel, “do you ever open a book at all?” The student of literature, who for all practical purposes is our narrator, responds, “I open several books every day.”

That tells you all you need to know about O’Brien’s head- spinning work of metafiction, one that is not content with anything less than three stories spiralling between its covers.

The first involves Pooka MacPhellimey, a member of the devil class. The second concerns fictitious characters who rebel against their hack writer, Trellis (himself a creation of the student, in one of O’Brien’s telescopic conceits). The last is a lampoon of Irish mythology. All of them gradually spin into the same orbit.

This feverish game-playing has long posed a challenge to the theatrical adapter, many of whom have had a go by seeking a breakneck physical equivalent for its literary playfulness.

Fresh from their wild success with O'Brien's The Third Policeman, Blue Raincoat's physically adept ensemble and sure-handed adapter, Jocelyn Clarke, are now set to give it another spin, knowing better than most that Flann is your only man.

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