Cyprus Avenue, Royal Court Theatre

Cyprus Avenue, returns to the Royal Court after a sell-out premiere in 2015 where it was hailed 'the most shocking, subversive and violent play in London'.

After impressing at Dublin's Abbey Theatre, the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs and New York's Public Theater, the play comes back to the Royal Court. This time it's staged in the to the larger Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, where the space will be re-worked to include on-stage seating.

It may be more spacious than the 2015 production, but now Cyprus Avenue comes with a trail of glowing reviews, a sellout is still likely. Prolific Belfast-born, BAFTA-winning actor Stephen Rea (The Honourable Woman) reprises this starring role and Vicky Featherstone directs once again.

Belfast-born playwright David Ireland is eloquent on the complex history of Irish conflict. It's a theme explored as writer-in-residence at the Lyric Belfast and in Cyprus Avenue it plays out with a subversive comedy that prompts comparisons with Martin McDonagh's Lieutenant of Inishmore.

The drama follows Eric Miller, a Belfast Loyalist who is losing a grip on reality. 'Gerry Adams has disguised himself as a newborn baby and successfully infiltrated my family,' he warns. Everyone thinks Eric needs to stop dwelling on The Troubles and look ahead, but he is convinced that he must do something. Fanatacism and dementia entwine in a bitterly funny, deeply troubling examination of the all too relevant construct of Angry White Male.

Tickets to Cyprus Avenue at the Royal Court are available to book here.