IT'S DUBLIN in 1915 when two boys accept a mutual challenge to swim together to a distant island on the following Easter Sunday.

Poverty, politics and rebellion will keep them apart until they are finally able to fulfil their pact and at the same time confess their love for each other.

Dance piece At Swim Two Boys strips back Jamie O'Neill's 2001 novel of the same name to the two lads' relationship and, in a nod to the writer's stream-of-consciousness style, presents it in a single sweep.

A corrugated, metal barrier forms the backdrop, a spout of water trickling down it and spilling out on to the stage.

Performers Daniel O'Connor and Murilo D'Imperio Leite kick, spin, leap and skid their way through sequences related to passages in the book, occasionally showering several rows of the audience with spray.

It's interesting visually but doesn't sustain itself for the entire hour-long show – more suited perhaps to a 20-minute piece within a triple bill.

The more energetic segments are padded out with lots of pregnant pauses, pacing, sitting and lying down – moments that may be crucial to O'Neill's plot but dissolve the dance piece's tension. And there is its weakness. Earthfall's creation is not a work that can be appreciated alone.

While an occasional voice over and projected images provide some hints of the story, those who have not read the novel would struggle to appreciate the relevance of much of the choreography.

Laura Davis