Artcore is a company based at Manchester University. One of the most successful student companies at the '97 Fringe (its physical theatre version of Kafka's The Trial was one of the highlights of my Fringe last year), it has reformed under a new name to present a number of shows at this year's Fringe.
Rat in the Skull by Ron Hutchinson is an intensely powerful piece about the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland. It paints a terrifying picture of a society so divided against itself that reconciliation seems impossible. An IRA bomber, Roche, is caught by the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Squad and held in Paddington Green police station. DI Nelson of the RUC is called back from leave to interview Roche and try to "turn" him, lead him into becoming an informant.
The story is told in flashback and the relationship between the Catholic Roche and the Protestant Nelson is laid bare in searing detail, watched in total bafflement by Harris, a senior Anti-Terrorist Squad officer, and Naylor, a probationary constable. For these two (and, incidentally, there is a sub-plot about the Force "looking after its own") the world of what both Roche and Nelson see as a war zone is totally foreign and almost beyond their understanding. Harris, in fact, sees Nelson and the RUC as almost as much of an enemy as the IRA.
It is impossible to fault this production. The audience is gripped from the start and the scenes between Nelson (Colm Gormley) and Roche (Benedict Cumberbatch) are almost painful in their intensity. This is a production not to be missed.