FRANK Gilfeather's first play is based on a true story. On May 3,

1941, Private John Fitzgerald was shot dead by Private Stephen Sheppard

at Tay Bridge Station, Dundee, while allegedly attempting to escape from

custody. Sheppard was found not guilty of murder in a civil court;

Lance-Corporal James Dunlop, the NCO in charge of the escort who had

allowed Fitzgerald to visit relatives and public houses in the hours

before the train was due, was court martialled.

Gilfeather draws loosely on this incident -- he changes the names --

as a focus for a portrait of Lochee; its wifies, most of whom had to

work in the mills as well as keep a home and raise a family -- its

chancers and hardmen, its characters and its religious rivalries,

centred on the football match between the Harp and Violet.

The problem, since Gilfeather avoids courtroom drama -- the play ends

with the shooting -- is that the incident, which would lend itself well

to film (it is not so far from The Last Detail) is difficult to stage.

The football match is central to the play's action -- it is there that

relations between McGarrity/Fitzgerald and Cosgrove/Sheppard break down

-- but can only be described in the bar. The bairns McGarrity never

visits are kept off stage. The abrupt ending cries out for a freeze

frame rather than a curtain call.

Although the issues raised push well beyond situation comedy, the

production -- which extends to the usherettes being dressed as ARP

wardens -- and the level of writing is often closer to light

entertainment than drama. Too much is asserted rather than established.