Review: Bad Blood Blues

It is not a hoop-jumping think piece but a subtly crafted one-act play, which manages to explore complex issues and create fully rounded, tangible characters in just 70 minutes.

A fascinating, gnarled-up beast of a show, which builds up slowly and confidently, never forcing its ideas upon us, but allowing us the space to consider and feel the play for ourselves.

Although hidden away in Theatre Royal Stratford East's studio, this is a much more complete play than many West End productions.

The story skips delicately between the personal and the universal, opening out into full-on debate only when its characters and audience are ready.

It is a consistently provocative but real affair, helped along by some restrained but sparky directing from Ryan Romain and two resounding central performances.

It is the acting that stands out here and transforms an intellectually stimulating play into an emotionally powerful one.

Martina Laird and Nathaniel Martello-White inhabit their roles completely and their detailed, believable performances allow us real and private access to their dilemma.

They localise the play's bigger questions, tighten its focus and draw us in.

Laird makes use of every second she has on-stage and it feels like one could read the entire play in her eyes. She is a real discovery - she can even be funny, too.

All the production's elements have combined seamlessly here, making what can sometimes seem like a remote and intangible debate, feel all too urgent and real.