Fanshen - TNT

Full marks to the enterprising Theatredelicatessen for securing a temporary home at a central London location just a stone's throw from Oxford Circus.The building is scheduled for redevelopment and (although a smart commissionaire is still in situ in the entrance lobby) the space in which this slice of Chinese history unfolds has, appropriately, already been stripped to the floorboards. The audience sits on bare wooden benches, or hard sackcloth covered seats to watch the peasants of Long Bow village deal with the changes brought about by the overthrow of the feudal system and its replacement by what was intended to be a communist utopia.

David Hare's 1975 Brechtian style docu-drama, interesting though it is, proves pretty heavy-going as it demonstrates how the less attractive aspects of human nature (greed, corruption, the desire for vengeance) undermine the idealism behind this period of land reform from 1945 – 1949.It's all very earnest and very worthy and the cast are obviously committed. But although Hare opens a window on another culture, it proves hard to engage with so many briefly sketched characters, so many community meetings and so little actual drama.

295 Regent Street, London W1. (07708 740913). Until August 3. Tickets £12 (£10 concessions).