The second act of Arthur Miller's 1968 play is one of the most excruciatingly riveting depictions of family conflict in modern drama, and it is in its final hour that Mark Brokaw's production is at its heart-rending best. Victor Franz, the deflated, defensive, cop who gave up his education to support the father he believed was penniless, is confronted by his more financially successful brother, Walter, who has suffered personal devastation and now sees things with more clarity than Victor can, at first, bear. Victor's wife, Esther, grasps at the financial opportunity Walter offers them - which Victor can't accept out of pride, but is that pride misplaced? Miller, having built up his characters through delicate layers of detail, now has them tear emotional strips off each other, and the pain and conviction with which Brokaw's brilliant actors convey this conflict rivets the auditorium. Lorcan Cranitch is heartbreakingly believable as the beaten-down Victor; both he and Ger Ryan, as Esther, bring extraordinary physical and vocal detail to their portraits of lower middle-class New Yorkers. Nick Dunning lacks credibility at first as the seemingly slick Walter, but finds his stride and contributes fully to the play's emotional crescendo.
What the piece is trying to say about societal and personal responsibility in a larger context comes through less clearly, however, partly because of the choice to play the furniture appraiser Gregory Solomon, who dominates the first act's action, for his comic possibilities. There are enormous pleasures in Robert Prosky's performance - his sprightly carriage, wry manner and complete aliveness are a masterclass in character acting. But his demeanour is so borscht-belt that we miss some of the character's deeper layers: the fact that his antics might be intended to keep the brothers away from each other's throats, the extent to which he represents a contrasting version of American-ness. Still, this is an evening of many pleasures, featuring some of the best acting seen on Irish stages in many years.
· Until June 26. Box office: 00353 1 874 4045.
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