Rat in the Skull

People's Center Theater
425 20th Avenue South Minneapolis

These are fraught times for American law enforcement, which makes Rat in the Skull's examination of the balance of power between "authorities" and "criminals" particularly timely. Set in England during the 1980s, this hard-hitting drama deals with incidents of police brutality against the revolutionary organization known as the Irish Republican Army. After being arrested for his alleged involvement in a terrorist bombing, a young IRA member's interrogation turns into a merciless beating, which sparks an investigation that forms the crux of this play. Layers of history and conflict unfold as Candid Theater Co.'s production at Minneapolis' People's Center Theater moves seamlessly between captors and captives, slowly revealing the tragic bitterness that exists between countrymen at war.