Verbatim drama is rapidly gaining ground alongside documentary cinema. But, while I applaud the tendency, I feel the form demands the disciplines of art. And, although Robin Soans's latest example is stuffed with rich material, it could use more shaping, signposting and trimming.
Soans has had the original idea of talking to people in Israel and the Occupied Territories while they were cooking. But, although this may have encouraged them to relax, it sometimes leads to surplus information: when a Jerusalem restaurant owner asks "have you ever wondered how a piece of meat gets from the cow to your plate?" my natural instinct is to say no. And 42 characters is a lot for any show to contain: being a simple soul, I longed for the interviewees invariably to announce their names, nationality and occupation so I could focus on their stories.
That said, Soans has met a fascinating variety of private citizens who reveal the daily pressures of living with the intifida. An American-Jewish woman, who was a flaming liberal when young, has turned reactionary through fear. An elderly man, who once owned a garage in Ramallah, and his wife talk of the humiliation of being kept waiting 90 minutes at a checkpoint. An Israeli bus-driver, who got on well with his Arab passengers, speaks of the horror of being forced to overtake a fellow-driver attacked by a suicide bomber.
On all sides what Soans discovers is a mixture of daily despair and stoic resignation: no one can see any way out of the current impasse yet everyone insists that you have to go on living.
Rena, the American woman, talks of defiantly going to the Cafe Hillel the day after it was attacked. Most movingly of all an elderly Christian woman speaks of the consoling routine of prayer, polishing her table and cleaning her pictures.
Directed by Tim Roseman and Rima Brihi, the show becomes a testament to people's powers of survival. And, although it is overlong, it is impressively acted by a cast of eight including Sheila Hancock, Jerome Willis, Amanda Boxer and Keith Bartlett. As theatrical reportage, it may not provide any answers but it does a good deal to illuminate the hazards of living under the shadow of instant death.
· Until July 10. Box office: 020-7229 0706.
