It is customary for the Gaiety School of Acting to provide its graduating students, after two years of training, with specially written plays in which to showcase their talents.
This year's writers have done the job before, and bring an understanding of the requirements to their tasks. Ken Bourke wrote The House in Gortnashee, a ghost story about a young couple moving into an old house in which bad deeds were once done.
It intermingles the past and present in an atmospheric way, blending melodrama and modern psychology neatly. In less than an hour, each actor has a character to shape and a contribution to make to the plot. They do it well.
The Man Who Couldn't Cross Roads is by Gavin Kostick, a crime-and-punishment piece with a nightmarish atmosphere. Here there is a lead role which dominates, of a student murderer, and a selection of supports, some quite slight. But everyone gets into the action at some level, and the communal achievement has impact.
This is a good student crop; they speak with clarity and move with ease.
A few have already learned to relax into their roles with that art which conceals art, to disguise the techniques which underpin their playing.
Compliments and bon voyage to all of them, and sympathy to the young lady laid low with appendicitis on the eve of her debut. At least that won't happen again.
Ends today; performances at 1 and 8 p.m. Booking at 1850- 260027