Bewley's Cafe Theatre

Before he became president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, Vaclav Havel was harassed and imprisoned by the state for his anti-communist stance. During that time he wrote a number of plays which had to be performed in secret, in the tradition of the samizdat or underground writings of many Russian writers. One of these, the 40-minute Private View, currently occupies the lunchtime slot at Bewley's Cafe Theatre, and richly rewards the attention of its audiences. On the surface, it is an entertaining vignette about a bourgeois couple who invite a friend to an evening in their fancy flat, apparently to show off and patronise him. Look, they seem to be saying, at our good taste, our terrific marriage, our superior lives, you pitiful failure.

But when their guest makes his excuses and tries to leave, they are gripped with hysteria. What is the point of their airs and possessions if they are alone, if there is nobody they can use to massage their egos? Alone, they live on the edge of an abyss. The existential philosophy revealed here opens a door to an understanding of human nature, and makes the satire an intellectual and emotional experience.

The three actors - Michael James Ford, Sighle Toibin and Mark O'Halloran - get right inside their roles and are altogether convincing. They are directed with sensitivity by Caroline Fitzgerald, with a set design by Sabine Dargent which makes little of the venue's limitations. Not for the first time, Bewley's offers theatre of the highest standard off the beaten track.

Until April 21st; booking at 086-9784001