Almost 20 years ago, the Maly Theatre visited the UK with a production of Alexander Galin's play, based on the Soviet authorities' treatment of prostitutes during the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Terrified that visiting foreigners would see the dark underbelly of life in the USSR, the prostitutes were swept off the streets like rubbish and deposited far away where nobody would see them. Galin's play has a group of women holed up in a former mental hospital outside the city, where they laugh and cry and reveal the realities of their lives as they wait for the runner with the Olympic flame to pass by, taking the torch to Moscow.
Two decades ago, Stars in the Morning Sky was startling for two reasons: it showed Soviet life warts and all, and it showcased the extraordinary visionary talent of the director Lev Dodin and his company. Alas, in this production, you can't help thinking how much better Galin's play was in Russian. A lot is lost not just in translation, but in the passage of time. It is a reminder that most contemporary plays are specifically of their time.
Aoife Smyth's production has its moments, but it is not sufficiently crisp to prevent the play from swimming in and out of focus. The lack of dynamism means there are fatal dips in energy. But often, just when you are entirely losing patience, it mugs you with its mixture of tender and brutally honest observations about women's lives.
The acting is all over the place too, but I liked Gemma Johnson as the blowsy Klara, a frightened child beneath her viciousness, and Cassie Raine's fantasist Laura is like her Tennessee Williams namesake - as fragile as if she were made of glass.
· Until March 3. Box office: 020-7261 9876
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