Improbable Frequency by Arthur Riordan
A smash-hit musical satire from Dublin lifting the lid on Ireland's wartime neutrality. It's 1941. Europe is at war and espionage is the front line. As the rest of the world gets on with the small matter of World War Two, Dublin's lights burn flagrantly and Europe's intellectual elite are out to play. But suspicious messages on a radio show have drawn the attention of MI5, and a diffident young code-breaker is dispatched to a Dublin crawling with spies and Nazis to determine which side neutral Ireland is really on. Featuring such unlikely real-life figures as John Betjeman (MI5) and Myles na Gopaleen (pseudonym of Flann O'Brien), Improbable Frequency is a joyous musical satire on Ireland's vaunted neutrality. Originally produced on the Dublin Fringe by Rough Magic Theatre, the show transferred to the Abbey, the National Theatre of Ireland, in March 2005 and may go on to the West End of London. The razor-sharp book and lyrics are by Arthur Riordan, the brilliantly eclectic music by the two-man team of Bell Helicopter: Conor Kelly and Sam Park.