That Face - TNT

Though she was only 19 when she wrote this, Polly Stenham's first play is unpleasantly compelling right from the start as schoolgirl Mia (Felicity Jones) finds herself way out of her depth in a boarding school initiation ceremony. Her 18 year-old brother isn't faring too well either as he struggles (as he has done for the previous 5 years) to handle their mother's dependency on drink, prescription drugs and on Henry himself. It's a disturbing piece — one can only hope not too rooted in autobiography — and the performances are raw and intense. Lindsay Duncan is cruelly manipulative in her treatment of her children, her unhealthy jealousy and her complete failure to be a mother, And, as Henry, Matt Smith reveals the extent of the damage done when his devotion gives way to howling despair at the endless enormity of the task he took upon himself when his broker father (Julian Wadham, chucking cash at every problem whilst keeping a tight rein on his emotional contribution) decamped to make a comfortable new life in Hong Kong.
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs Sloane Square, SW1, 020-7565 5000. Until 19th May.