Synopsis
Peter - reclusive, thoughtful and apolitical - is staffing the lighthouse on his own when his ebullient and extrovert brother Eddy arrives unexpectedly. Eddy is ostensibly concerned about the sudden and inexplicably disappearance of the second lighthouse keeper, Harty, having gone missing mysteriously days earlier. Gradually, in the cooped up confinement of the lighthouse, political differences and old family feuds break out between the two brothers. Eddy's interest in Harty turns out to be more than casual. At the climax of the play, having discovered a plan to land arms, Eddy attempts to use an experimental lighthouse lamp to signal the gunrunners. He dies in this attempt. Peter, cleaning and preparing the body of his brother, breaks down, wrecking the lighthouse interior, only to reveal the depth of Harty's betrayal of him.