A deluded mind's decay

Set in 1939 during the months before the outbreak of World War II, it follows the exploits of George Harvey Bone, an incipient alcoholic who is possibly schizophrenic.

He is obsessed with Netta, a would-be film star. She and her acolytes both despise and exploit Bone. They all drift through a seedy world of habitual drunkenness.

In Bone's dark, disengaged moments, he plans to murder Netta and free himself from the chains of alcoholic dependency and from her sleazy, fascist-friendly circle.

Two actors, Caroline Faber and Clare Calbraith, play Netta. One is the "real" Netta in Bone's physical world and the other a sort of idealised Netta who both comments on and advances the action. It's an effective ploy.

The different layers of Hamilton's novel, already well served in Fidelis Morgan's adaptation, are brought to convincing life by Gemma Fairlie's production.

The able cast play a multiplicity of characters with wit and vigour. Matthew Flynn is impressive as the disintegrating Bone, particularly during the latter stages as the story gathers momentum, the central characters journeying inexorably towards their destruction.

This small, intimate theatre is well suited to such a claustrophobic and intense work, particularly since much of the action takes place in Bone's tortured mind.

The production's final gesture both underscores and elaborates on this strength. A curtain at the theatre's window is pulled down to let in the fading evening light of Earls Court. It is an affecting conclusion that provokes thought about not only the lives of the seedy and deluded characters in Hamilton's masterly novel but also the condition of Europe as the 1930s came to an end.

Plays until August 2. Box office: 0844 847 1652.

CLIVE GRAHAM