Iraq has not only galvanised British political theatre, it has recharged American drama. You could hardly have sharper proof than this mesmerising piece, written by Adriano Shaplin for San Francisco's Riot Group. It brilliantly dissects the US military mentality and the country's obsessive need for demoniacal enemies.
Four marines gather for a briefing on a clandestine mission to assassinate a Middle Eastern leader: clearly, though never explicitly, Saddam Hussein. One marine, bullishly played by Shaplin, is a loud-mouthed sniper. Another is a secretive communications expert. The third is a female explosives specialist distrusted by the top brass for complaining about sexual harassment. The most tantalising figure is the colonel, who, like many of the neo-cons surrounding George W Bush, once espoused liberalism.
Shaplin's play exposes the divisions within the US military and, by implication, the political elite. Freud, the sniper, for example, could be said to represent a Rumsfeld-like disregard for alien systems and what he calls the enemy's "cock-sucking religion".
But it is Shaplin's use of language that gives this play its resonance. It combines military euphemism, such as "clipping" for "killing", with a gift for pungent aphorism. The key moment comes when the colonel says of invaded countries: "They either love us or they love to hate us. Either way we're spreading love." This obliquely expresses Shaplin's idea of America's urge to impose its values on the rest of the world.
This collective production is economically staged and dazzlingly acted by Shaplin, Stephanie Viola as the bomb expert, Drew Friedman as the technician and Paul Schnabel as the colonel. After London, the company tour and should not be missed by anyone fascinated by theatre's capacity to engage with the real world.
· Until February 7. Box office: 020-7478 0100.
