Photograph: Keith Pattison
As a counterbalance to the current wave of anti-immigration hysteria, the timing of Alice Nutter's debut play couldn't be better. Set in Leeds, it weaves the story of Loretta, a 19-year-old left alone to care for her 15-year-old brother, with that of a disparate group of asylum seekers living in the flat next door. Some, like Eric and his Zimbabwean father, are waiting to see whether they will get the right to remain, others such as Arum have already lost their appeal and are living in a twilight world because it is cheaper for the government to leave them here, illegal and invisible, than pay to send them back. Exploited by unscrupulous employers, these people live like foxes on the edge, scavenging to survive.
In another life, Nutter was a member of the band Chumbawamba, and her play has an almost musical energy. There is plenty wrong with it, including far too many short scenes that would work better on TV. But plenty is right, too, as Nutter displays a gift for storytelling and an ability to write fully fledged characters who burst with life and flawed humanity.
This could have just been an issues play, but it becomes more than that: Nutter recognises that life is complicated and people often act with their hearts not their heads. She shows how racism warps; how we put our own emotional needs over the happiness of others; how the exploitative can show flashes of generosity; how victims can turn on each other. This play has the maturity to know that people are not wholly good or bad. It is a promising debut, and Ian Brown's beautifully acted production makes it sing off the stage.
· Until Saturday. Box office: 0113-213 7700.
