landscape, narcissistic landown-
ers and soldiers returning from
wars they didn’t understand.
The returning soldier here is
Feeney (James Frecheville), an
Irishman who arrives back in the
west of Ireland after a stint serv-
ing with the British army in Af-
ghanistan. The country he finds
is a shell of the one he left, rav-
aged by a potato blight that will
eventually cost over a million
lives and see over two million
of Ireland’s people emigrate en
masse to Britain, Australia and
the US. His family home is crum-
bling and now housing the lo-
cal rent collector’s prize pig, his
mother has died from a fever
and his brother has been killed
by the police over a relatively
trivial crime.
When agents of the local land-
lord shoot Feeney’s young neph-
ew dead, the soldier starts a
fight with the police and is taken
into custody. While being ques-
tioned, he escapes, stabbing
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NJ STAGE - ISSUE 51
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