After Circles

There are good things in this grimly enigmatic study of the effects of a Balkan-style conflict on women, and I wish I could admire it more. It feels a little like one of Harold Pinter's overtly political plays that has missed its target.

We first meet two women who are used and abused in an ongoing war. They talk about the old days, loss, betrayal and words. Switch to a young man and woman, having a conversation about love, loyalty, courage and war that clearly predates the previous scene.

Switch back to the first two women, this time talking at a table in a scene that clearly leads to their plight at the beginning.

The acting is fully committed and very powerful. The staging is good, the settings and costumes effective and the direction ensures that the largely static events hold the interest even if they don't engage the emotions.

The problem is the script. It's at times enigmatic to the point of incomprehension, and that includes the title. There's great play with five words discovered on a slip of paper in the first scene, but it's then totally forgotten about.

I'm sure that the writer has the capability to write a good play, maybe even a great one, but this is not it. Worthy but dull, I'm afraid, in spite of the good acting that tried its best to make us think otherwise.