This little beauty premiered a couple of years ago at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Dublin’s "only year-round venue dedicated to producing Lunchtime Theatre." It was produced by Tall Tales, a small independent theatre company which "commissions, develops, produces and publishes new Irish work with a commitment to both the emerging and established writer."

The Southern Cross restaurant & bar and Rattling Tongues theatre have developed ‘One Sharp! Lunchtime Theatre’ based on the Bewley model. I look forward to the time that Rattling Tongues also has the wherewithal to echo Tall Tales with a commitment to commission, develop and produce plays by our own emerging and established writers.

Iseult Golden’s Fireworks is an ingeniously crafted love story that reveals its true purpose through a gripping little break-and-enter and rob-the-safe scenario. A café/restaurant is the target and it gets complicated when two people – Daniel then Laura – turn up in the wee small hours to do the same job for different reasons.

Director Nick Blake has set the action against the bar of the Cross’s function room and utilised the topography of the whole space to excellent effect. There’s no messing round with Irish accents. The only anomaly is mention of the Bank Holiday weekend whereby the safe holds more than usual ("27 grand" in fact).

The first gag comes when a Security Guard (Paul Harrop) comes in, turns off all the lights, closes up and goes. From then on the surprises spark and flare, slowly but surely illuminating a crisp little tale of challenged and challenging love.

Gavin Rutherford’s superbly modulated Daniel is strongly matched by Gina Vanessi’s stroppy Laura as they keep us, and each other, guessing. And as their very human story emerges and evolves, Harrop’s Security Guard returns to phone out his own tender love story against a background of amusing silent comedy business.

Billed as "short, sharp, bite-sized theatre", Fireworks sizzles, glows, sparkles and flares. Well worth it.
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