The Stage

Shoreditch Madonna

Published Friday 15 July 2005 at 16:05 by Aleks Sierz

Will love really tear us apart again? Youngsters Michael, Nick and Hodge run a squatted art-space in London’s East End. They invite fiftysomething Devlin - once an inspiring painter but now a washed-up drunk - to a Happening and, when he arrives, he meets Martha, an old flame.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Christina is devastated by the suicide of her lover, who was Devlin’s son. Can the lovestruck Nick help her - or can Devlin? Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Shoreditch Madonna is a heartfelt account of love and loss that says a lot more about human neediness and fragility than it does about art or creativity. There are a couple of lovely scenes - when the virginal Hodge kisses the older Martha and when Christina seduces two very different men - while the domineering Devlin is an amazing, larger-than-life creation.

But if Lenkiewicz understands the psychology of her characters perfectly and writes with an appealing mix of wry humour and tingling passion, she also has a regrettable tendency to rely on a declaratory style - “there’s always hope” or “we’re all hypocrites” - that is often frankly jarring. Still, her theatrical vision is confident, engrossing and empathetic.

Sean Mathias’s highly enjoyable production, on Paul Burgess’s versatile set and with Fergus O’Hare’s exciting soundtrack, stars the superb Francesca Annis and Leigh Lawson as Martha and Devlin, with very impressive performances by Alexandra Moen (Christina), Adam Croasdell (Nick), Daniel Rabin (Michael) and Lee Ingleby (Hodge). Hey, Shoreditch Madonna really rocks.