Arguments for Terrorism

The previous offering for A Play, a Pie and a Pint by playwright David Ireland had audiences in fits of laughter last year, which meant hopes were high for this follow-up.

Perhaps they were a little too high - with George W Bush and Tony Blair as central characters, it seemed as though Arguments for Terrorism would represent a considerable leap for the young playwright, adding a political dimension to the winning one-liners and irresistible silliness.

In fact, there is really very little political commentary here, but there is a former Spanish prime minister with a weakness for power ballads, and a scene following one of many tiffs between George and Tony that's soundtracked by Tupac's I Ain't Mad At Cha.

The basic premise is hardly subtle - the special relationship between president and ex-PM is explictly romantic, Bush is very, very stupid and Barak Obama's election sends the pair into a tailspin. Never mind about exactly how Tony Flynn's Jose Maria Aznar fits into all of this - how he fits into his spray-on jeans is the more burning question.

Richard Clements as Blair and Faolan Morgan as Bush give a pair of likeable performances that don't stray too close to impersonations, while Flynn goes fabulously overboard, but some lines of dialogue sit a little uncomfortably and the overall result is worthy of chuckles rather than guffaws.

There are a handful of cracking one-liners, but the central pair are soft targets who have already been mocked and dissected many, many times.

With his last play, it was clear Ireland was writing about what he knew, but the shift in setting from a Stranraer to Belfast ferry to the White House doesn't seem to have been matched by any urgent impulse to mine a fresh comic seam. This is a fun way to spend a lunchtime, but not much more. This playwright's best is yet to come.