Emily is 16 and not so sweet. Neither is her dad, Mick, with whom she has lived since the sudden death of her mother four years previously. Over-possessive Mick wants to keep Emily a baby; Emily wants to spread her wings and try on new underwear. She also wants to stop the voice in her head that keeps telling her to mutilate herself. These two desperate people cling to each other as if they are drowning, pulling each other under even as they attempt to hold each other up.
Lonely, gin-swilling Monica, the owner of the junk shop where Emily works, tries to help, but she doesn't just want to be a substitute mother to Emily, she wants to be substitute wife to Mick, too. Only Ben, the kite-flying student Emily meets in the park, offers some salvation, and he is too young and inexperienced to really make a difference.
Adolescent angst meets guilty secrets in Phil Porter's young, fierce play that has the authentic tang of bloody-minded adolescent misery and adult helplessness. This play, like Emily, is sad and more than a little mad. It is not at all bad, though, creeping up on you and getting under your skin with its sly wit and freewheeling spirit.
This is the work of an immensely promising playwright. Crispin Bonham-Carter's awkwardly designed production has some fringe values, but also enormously winning performances, particularly from Mariah Gale as Emily and Simon Bubb as the student out of his depth.
· Until October 26. Box office: 020-7978 7040.
