Kursk **** TNT

Saturday 13 June 2009 11:20 GMT

Ever wondered what it’s like living in a submarine?

You’ll certainly get a taste of life deep below the sea’s surface as you enter the astonishingly transformed studio space of multi-tiered metal walkways, flashing lights, control rooms and cramped living quarters. Watching from above, or milling on the ground following the action, the audience is immersed in this twilight world of male banter and increasingly high tension as a British hunter-killer sub heads towards the Barents Sea on a secret mission to glean information about the latest Russian nuclear submarine. An atmospheric soundscape heightens the intimate claustrophobia and underlines the vital need to identify any unexpected noise which could signal disaster or result in detection.

Inspired by the real life tragedy in 2000 when over 100 Russian submariners lost their lives aboard the Kursk, Sound&Fury theatre company in conjunction with playwright Bryony Lavery make each of the British sailors a recognisable but wholly credible type – one studies poetry in his off-duty moments, another has just become a dad, and, like the rest of the crew, Casanovaken eagerly awaits the all too brief telegrams from home which, in his case, come from his latest hot conquest.

And then there’s the commander. Facing unexpected life and death decisions whilst remaining constantly aware of the bigger political and practical picture, he guides us – and his vessel - on a gripping underwater journey to the icy depths of the North Pole.

Young Vic, The Cut, SE1 8LZ tube Southwark / Waterloo (0207 922 2922) till 27 June (£17.50, under 26’s £10)