Ireland is partaking in the current vogue for Friedrich Schiller's plays thanks to Rough Magic, who are staging Mike Poulton's justly celebrated version of the German playwright's 1787 political drama interpreted as an engaging thriller.
Lynne Parker's production is beautifully physically conceived - Paul O'Mahony's set of tall columns and crepuscular corridors transforms the venue and creates a potent sense of suspicion and claustrophobia. The action grows in power, particularly as passions flow in the second act. The female performances, especially Kathy Kiera Clarke as Queen Elizabeth, are complex and fully realised.
However, overall the production does not feel like a full engagement with the script: there is a sense of intellectual remove, an unwillingness or inability to dive completely into what should be emotionally and viscerally thrilling.
A key problem is pace: there is crispness here, but not inexorability. When Rodrigo tells Elizabeth that the King has dispatched the Duke of Alba to Flanders, this feels like stale news - we need more sense that the action is taking place over a few short, tumultuous days.
Another concern is a lack of certainty in key performances. It is a smart idea to make Fergal McElherron's Rodrigo the only character in modern dress, but we are not drawn into the character's total commitment to his ideals. Rory Keenan skews too far towards melodrama in his portrayal of Carlos's self-absorption. And, crucially, Nick Dunning is out of his depth as a painfully florid King Phillip. Without a full description of that character's tortured arc, play and production lack a centre.
· Until March 31. Box office: (353) 1 881 9613.
