Long established as one of Ireland's most versatile comedians, Pat Shortt makes the transition admirably in Garage, in which he is ideally matched with the synergistic team of screenwriter Mark O'Halloran and director Lenny Abrahamson. That duo's accomplished first collaboration, Adam & Paul, was as serious as it was blackly comic in following the misadventures of two Dublin junkies. They returned to those roots in Prosperity, the socially concerned four-part drama series broadcast by RTÉ last month.  Their mutual interest in outsiders as dramatic characters and how they struggle to survive in contemporary society takes on a deeper, darker tone in O'Halloran's incisive screenplay for Garage. It moves away from urban settings to a small rural town in the midwest of Ireland, but the atmosphere is just as edgy. Crucial to this achievement are the understated performances of an exemplary cast, in which Shortt's performance is revelatory, subtly expressive as he tenderly captures Josie in all his complexity. - Michael Dwyer / The Irish Times