Europe

It is becoming increasingly clear that theatrical innovation is more often than not to be found on the fringe. Common Currency, a relatively new company, is working for the next fortnight at the Moss Street venue. In Europe it has taken up David Greig, a young Scots writer of note in a play that is sharp and challenging.

See it. Europe is seen in microcosm in a railway station, rendered invisible by closure - its name a blur viewed from the window of the speeding express. There is stagnation and the uncertainty of change, which breeds prejudice and violence. There is the poetry of departures, new horizons evoked through the incantation of place names across continent and through sexual awakening.

Greig weaves a strong story line, focused on the tensions between transients and a settled community in terminal decline, but the essential vigour is in the freshness of his voice. Louise Drumm directs with enormous assurance. Design (Rosy Barnes and Nigel Hannon), atmospheric sound and light combine with intense acting to create a production that merits space on one of our main stages. See it.