Mambr· can scarcely be beaten for topicality: two women face combat, hunger and drought while under periodic and ferocious military assault from the air. After initially suggesting some of the terrors of war, however, this children's play, from the Basque-based Compa±∅a Markeli±e, mainly settles into a sweet but not wildly exciting double act, as its two performers clown around with various objects scattered around the stage - with an inventiveness that only rarely rises to theatrical heights.

The women are soldiers, and enemies, but gradually, facilely, they become friends. Only once, when a mop head, a curtain and a helmet combine to create an imaginary lover for whom the two women are rivals - all to the sound of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - does their interaction enchant. There's a worthy and timely message in here about our shared humanity but, frankly, it's weak. Even the pathos that the play's emotive climax aims for is, while pretty, sadly unearned.