The free 3 PM presentation, part of Irish Rep's New Works Reading Series, unveils "an American tragedy about the wages of Fear," according to Irish Rep notes.

In the 1949-set drama, "James Forrestal, President Truman's Secretary of Defense, attempts suicide and his wife commits him to the Bethesda Naval Hospital. The architect of cold-war paranoia fears that Russians have not only infiltrated the highest ranks of the U.S. government, but are hiding in the bushes outside his home. Forrestal confides in a fellow patient about his rise to power and the choices that he made to protect the country. But if a man makes choices he's not proud of, even if it's for the larger good, is that man still right?"

Irish Repertory Theatre is at 132 W. 22nd Street. The company "encourages the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish American experience, as well as a range of other cultures."

Urban's plays have been produced and developed at SPF@The Public, The Flea, Williamstown Theater Festival, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, The Huntington, Theatre of NOTE, The Lark, Open Circle Theater and Soho Rep. He is the winner of the 2008 Weissberger Playwriting Award, the 2007 Huntington Playwriting Fellowship, the 2009 Writers' Room of Boston Emerging Writers Fellowship and two summer MacDowell Colony Fellowships. He teaches at Harvard University.

Admission is free but seating is limited, so a reservation is suggested by visiting www.irishrep.org or calling (212) 727-2737.