For a parent, there can be few greater tragedies than to outlive your children, and to stand by and watch helplessly as their grandchildren are wiped out, too. In South Africa alone, 900 people die every day of Aids-related causes. The statistics are rendered human and the tragedy of an entire continent made personal in Debbie Tucker Green's devastating play.
A family meal for three generations - from teenage daughters to grandparents - is being lovingly prepared. The whiff of stew seasons the air, the pots and pans bubble merrily along with the singing. The act of cooking and talk of cooking are central: an oral history that is part of the shared banter of family life, in which memories, stories and skills are swapped and passed down.
Yet it soon becomes clear that this is no celebration, but rather a requiem, as the family scene is enacted five times over. The dialogue is the same each time, but the scenes become shorter as gradually, beginning with one of the teenage daughters whose off-stage courtship provides a comic sideshow, members of the family leave the playing area, and their section of the dialogue is excised.
The word Aids is never mentioned, but the stage suddenly becomes crowded with an appalling absence, and the choir raise the roof in lamentation. Staged with a tender simplicity by Sacha Wares and beautifully acted, this runs for fewer than 30 minutes, but will last you a lifetime.
· Until March 10. Box office: 020-7928 6363.
