The Pillars of the Community
Oxford School of Drama
Pegasus Theatre to June 8th

The prospect of sitting through Ibsen on the last evening of a leisurely jubilee holiday wasn't too inspiring, but once again the Pegasus Theatre in east Oxford surprised me, this time with a production by the visiting Oxford School of Drama.

The Pillars of the Community, running until Saturday, is a story of clashing cultures and half-buried vengeances, and this alone would be an absorbing scenario. Ibsen's characters are surprisingly 21st century: there is a corrupt businessman desperate to hide a huge cover-up, a neglected teenager who longs to be himself, labourers threatened by industrial progress and corporate power. Set in an isolated community founded on principles of public morality and respectability, it's inevitable that the return of two former inhabitants will stir up old tensions, and the Oxford School of Drama bring these ever-present conflicts to life with clarity and depth.

It's a powerful if rather ponderous plot, but it's made into easy but stimulating viewing by some outstanding actors and a simple set that evokes a plain, God-fearing community very effectively. Director Katie Goodwin has ensured that none of the characters becomes clichéd by applying this understatement to the production as a whole. Adso Brown is certainly a most supercilious Mr Bernick - one of the so-called 'pillars' who turns out to be rotten to the core- but he is still credible. The cast is of a uniformly high standard, with Jemma Powell standing out as Lona, who's returned from the Land of the Free to inspire some freedom of thought in the Old World.

The energy is maintained throughout the production, and I found myself wondering right up to the last scene how the web of lies and rumour would be untangled, and whether revenge or redemption would out. This is an inspiring and thought-provoking production from a company who seemed to relish the challenge.

Olivia Rowland