Shift

Prowling the streets, bedrooms, parks and schoolyards of a grubby uncertain city, where madness lurks just under the skin, men, women and those in-between enter an unsettling dance of encounters. Theres Maisie, perfect on the inside and out, a right Primcess but whats it going to take to get a hard-copy invitation to her party? Theres the angry-deep-inside man, who gets more than he bargained for when he drinks too much at a party, insulting a mysterious guest. Theres those three lads, up from the sticks to study marketing in Belfield, who cant help listening to the noises in their creaky Georgian house: a slamming door, a washing machine and geisha Susie downstairs, playing Nights in White Satin to her snake. And the nixer driving a removals van with Christo, who likes dressing up on days he isnt feeling too good. Time passes. Roads get built, cars get faster, bubbles bust. But some things endure. The bitter violence of betrayal. Love, in all its foolish sweetness. The hurt and sometimes healing of loss. A magnificent achievement by one of Irelands greatest authors.