The Seafarer

Ramor Theatre, Virginia, Co Cavan Ends tomorrow 8.30pm 18/16 ramor theatre.com 049-8547074; Roscommon Arts Centre Nov 14-16 8pm 090-6625824 roscommonarts centre.ie; Mullingar Arts Centre, Co Westmeath Nov 17-19 8pm 17/14 044-9347777 mullingarartscentre.ie

When a lonely alcoholic in Conor McPherson's The Seafareris coerced into a game of cards with a supernatural stranger at Christmas, throwing his soul into a devilish pot, the question is not so much whether he will escape the eternal confinement and torment of hell, but whether he would actually notice any difference.

The grimy comedy of McPherson’s Baldoyle, where even the electric candle of a Sacred Heart of Jesus portrait has given up the ghost, conjures up a world of lost souls and counts as McPherson’s own sobering meditation on alcoholism.

Nomad, the network of north midlands theatres, rekindles its role in touring such considered crowd- pleasers to regional audiences with a production directed by Andrew Flynn. Okay, the play gives in to the hokiest of plot contrivances, but McPherson has a hard-won belief in redemption, so much that he even spares some sympathy for the devil. Or, as Lockhart puts it, “Amn’t I worth saving?”

Can’t See That? Catch This

Touch Me Project Arts Centre, Dublin