One way or another, each of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's intimate, small-cast plays finds its way to New York. In the past few seasons, New York theatregoers have seen The Weir in a Tony-nominated Broadway run, This Lime Tree Bower and St. Nicholas in major Off-Broadway presentations, and The Good Thief, produced by the tiny Keen Company in 2001.

Now comes Rum & Vodka, McPherson's earliest work, and—like The Good Thief and St. Nicholas—a one-man show. The play will be presented beginning Oct. 3 at the Ohio Theatre in Soho. Producing are Erich Jungwirth and Richard Jordan in association with Soho Think Tank.

Rum & Vodka tells of a working class Dubliner who "wakes up to find he's a father of two, holed up in a job he detests, and married to a woman he doesn't love." A three-day drinking binge appears to be in order and that's just what our hero embarks upon—hence the title.

Starring is Mark Alhadeff, who has acted at the McCarter Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. Samuel Buggeln directs.

Rum & Vodka was briefly introduced to New York a few years back when it was presented as part of the New York International Fringe Festival. McPherson's Dublin Carol will be presented by the Atlantic Theater Company this season.

—By Robert Simonson