In Abi Morgan's gripping play, the audience are invited to supply vital missing imagery - of the dictator of an unnamed eastern European state who never arrives; the portrait of him a photojournalist has come to take; the painting that was an artist's final dissenting gesture; the city streets blockaded and bombed.
What we are shown is four characters trapped in a room, waiting. But no sooner is this claustrophobic scenario established than it is twisted and shaken like a kaleidescope. As the absent dictator's wife (Ingrid Craigie), her oldest friend (Jane Brennan), the photographer (Amanda Douge) and interpreter (Mary Murray) sit anxiously drinking and making small talk, the scenes begin to repeat, like a jammed film, and shards of inner monologue are intercut with dialogue. Secrets and painful histories emerge as the scenes are replayed. It's an intriguing structure, which Rachel West's production presents with impressive clarity.
Performing in the round, the cast bring restrained passion to characters who could so easily be ciphers. Craigie and Brennan are particularly compelling as the loyal political spouse and the friend whom she betrayed. There are times, though, when even these two vivid characterisations are dimmed by the abstraction of the setting.
The other two characters are more difficult to lift from the page, especially the cliched figure of the hardened war photographer with no personal life. "You're a parasite," the wife tells her, "you're outside history." Yes, but then, so is the play. Not knowing the specifics of the historical context means that this is largely an absorbing and stylish experiment in form, rather than the political piece it clearly aspires to be.
· Until June 9. Box office: (00 353) 1881 9613.
