Absolute Beginners - TNT

Lizzie Clachan's clever mobile set (a cluster of Mondrian-coloured blocks which open up and slide fluidly around the stage) and Soweto Kinch's jazzy score aren't enough to rescue this soulless adaptation of Colin MacInnes' subversive 1959 cult novel of post-war teenage low-life. Set during the lead up to the Notting Hill race riots, the fragmented narrative follows 18 year-old "Photo Boy" as he works to further a photographic career, argues with his family, and tries to get hold of enough cash to stop his promiscuous girlfriend from sleeping around. But Roy Williams' version of this coming-of-age story fails to engage the heart. The interracial and inter-generational tensions are evident, but rather than electrify, they merely crackle intermittently in this dull, disappointing production.
Lyric Hammersmith, King Street, Hammersmith, W6, 08700-500 511. Until May 26.

Louise Kingsley