Good plays are of the moment; great plays are for all time. So it is with Howard Barker's bitterly humorous 20-year-old drama which explores not just the responsibilities of the artist and his or her relationship to the state, but also something which we all face daily: the relationship between personal ambition and moral responsibility. Had Tony Blair seen this play, perhaps he might have hesitated before he took us all off to war.
In 16th-century Venice, Galactia (Melanie Jessop) is the free-spirited painter who has been chosen over her ambitious peers, including her lover Carpeta, to depict the city's finest hour: its glorious triumph in the Battle of Lepanto over the Ottoman empire. But Galactia is determined to serve the truth, not the hand that is paying her, and soon the full vivid horror of war emerges on her canvas.
While William Oldroyd's production is pretty rough around the edges, it serves the play well. You don't want a play about the slipperiness of morality and the lengths the state will go to protect its image to be too slickly staged. Jessop, in the demanding central role, sometimes lacks energy, but she captures Galactia's sweaty, grubby grace, and Robert Goodale is just right as the urbane Doge, who only loves art that celebrates and reflects the public good as he sees it.
There is a marvellous moment at the end when a woman, an ordinary member of the public, sees through the state's subterfuges and sees the canvas for what it really is. She clasps the artist's hands; this play made me want to clasp Barker's hand, too.
· Until January 27. Box office: 020-8985 2424.
