Manchester has one of the most vibrant pub theatre scenes in the country. The Library Theatre has mounted a mini-festival that takes the legwork out of trawling the fringe by showcasing the best of the city's back-room productions.
Re:Play presents nine new plays in repertoire, of which I caught a third over the course of a day. Marcus Hercules's Different Perspectives combines live action with filmed footage to tell the story of a Jamaican immigrant whose son falls prey to one of Manchester's least merciful drug barons. The screened episodes emphasise the generation gap between the father, who speaks in rich patois, and his son, who talks without opening his mouth. Yet, Hercules lacks the imaginative strength to present brutal stereotypes in a manner that is anything other than brutally stereotypical.
An Englishman's Home is a venomous monologue written and performed by Richard Vergette in the persona of a repressed, upper-class recluse who becomes a tabloid sensation for taking pot shots at intruders. Vergette's clipped delivery conceals a poignant homoerotic passion, though the conceit of talking to his weapon gives the bizarre impression of a ventriloquist conversing with a rifle.
Luke Walker's Mind the Gap occurs mostly in the dark, as a late-night underground train grinds to a halt, leaving the two occupants of the carriage prey to a fast-flowing sequence of fears and fantasies. Walker flits between conscious and subconscious dialogue to great effect, and racks up the tension as the couple are terrorised by text messages from an unseen third party. An extremely smart, funny and sinister piece that suggests mobile phones have become the modern equivalent of Pinter's dumb waiter.
· Until January 26. Box office: 0161-236 7110.
