‘In a year of good plays Thomas Kilroy’s Double Cross stands out a mile for its biting and provocative intelligence . . . a rich profusion of ideas . . . a dense, ironic play.’
— Michael Billington, The Guardian
‘Identity can be a fiction, and be no less satisfactory on that account.’ In this absorbing drama Thomas Kilroy investigates the validity of this claim. He shows, as through a prism, episodes in the lives of Brendan Bracken and William Joyce, including their relationship with Ireland and their conceptions of Britain and Germany in World War II. How these antagonists, given a choice by history, distorted their personalities to re-invent themselves becomes ultimately a spellbinding examination of the riddle of nationalism.
‘[Double Cross] is a dense and difficult play but it is also thrilling and highly emotional. Under Jimmy Fay’s assured direction it transforms into a striking treatise on truth and identity, each half a mirror image of the other as these two Irishmen struggle with their own split identities. Just as they try to dictate the narrative of their countries, they are also trying to dictate the narrative of their own lives. The play is alive with our current language of politics bringing to mind Brexit, the Trump/ Putin dichotomy and even our own political stalemate in Stormont. From ‘alternative possibilities’, references to golf courses and a fight for hearts and minds using emotion rather than facts, this admirable production is frighteningly current and vitally important.’ — No More Workhorse
