BRENDAN Behan's play is a slice of Irish prison life in which warders and prisoners wile away the hours in the run-up to the hanging of the quare fellow of the title.

Kathy Burke directs this 50th anniversary touring production for Oxford Stage Company, with a large cast of 17 actors and original music by The Pogues' Philip Chevron.

It all seems strangely underpowered, as the action moves along surely but slowly and characters fail to engage the imagination or emotions. Perhaps it's the sheer number of people that results in them having little time to establish themselves before the next one takes centre stage.

The action moves from inside a wing at Dublin's Mountjoy Prison in 1949 to the yard outside, where a grave is being dug for the man due to be executed the next day.

Warders and prisoners try to outsmart each other. One prisoner tries to hang himself. Two are reprieved, a third is refused a stay of execution. The hangman arrives from England.

There are flashes of humour and the prisoners seem to have the author's sympathy more than the warders, who are a pretty dull lot. What's lacking is any sense of threat or violence, while characters we've begun to take an interest in during the first act all but disappear over the next two acts. I longed for one central character to give the production a focus rather than this grim, downbeat look behind bars.

* Runs until Saturday. Tickets (01904) 623569.

Published: 08/04/2004