On the evening of December 11, 1920, a production of The Gondoliers is in full swing at the Cork Opera House when word comes through that the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries are rampaging through the streets and setting buildings on fire.

Songs for a Burning City, a fascinating work of imagined history, provides a kaleidoscopic account of the turmoil of that infamous night as seen through the eyes of individual members of the cast and audience.

For some it will be an opportunity for looting, or even romance. For others it will be an evening that changes the whole direction of their lives.