Synopsis
The play is set in 1927 during an attempt by the IRA to destroy a Free State government power plant. The attack fails; nevertheless the plant is then blown up by accident. Along the way the play deals with nation-building, terrorism, war crimes, the rape of the environment, industrialism and globalization, while at the same time it is a deeply personal story of loss, denial and reconciliation. The title is from Ezra Pound, about a poet grasping at illusory ideals. As the play closes the action turns back from the political to the personal, as the central character discovers a resolution to his nihilism, and the idea that in man’s unhappiness could lie his greatness.