Strong acting performances will stay frozen in the memory

Brunton Theatre

IT'S never an easy topic, but it is, sadly, always topical: child abduction nevertheless provides the basis for an absorbing production from Rapture Theatre Company.

Writer Bryony Lavery has created fascinating characters, and the actors clearly enjoy their roles. Gerda Stevenson as Nancy captures the horrific contradictions in knowing the worst but also attempting, on the surface, to live a normal life. Trapped with her pain, she desperately wants to "feel better or even different". John Kazek has a thankless task but makes the loathsome Ralph a fascinating creature. Joanna Tope's Agnetha is a beautiful but brittle expert in the criminal mind.

Much of the play consists of monologues, allowing each character to develop their own personal relationship with the audience. But the key scenes bring them together in different combinations.

Agnetha's interviews with Ralph reveal as much about the doctor as the patient, while the encounter between Ralph and his victim's mother is so taut and detailed as to be utterly compelling. Michael Emans' superbly coherent and affecting production takes full advantage of Lyn McAndrew's subtle and clinical all-white set, while Simon Wilkinson's lighting effectively manipulates the mood and setting.

But it's the performances which remain in the memory: the three damaged people are perfectly portrayed. Stevenson in particular goes through the wringer, but emerges with some semblance of hope. "Actually," she says, "nothing is unbearable".