Spoonface Steinberg Oxford Playhouse

If one were to look for a challenging subject for a play one could find little more intimidating than that of tackling the worldview of a small autistic child dying of cancer, yet it is precisely this topic with which Spoonface Steinberg engages. However perhaps there is little to be surprised about when one considers that this is the same author who brought us the brave fusion of working-class and ballet genre in last year's Billy Elliot. Nevertheless, any actress daring enough to engage with the part is faced with the formidable task of not only recreating the autistic world, but retaining the attention of an audience for an hour solely through the power of her performance.

I can wholeheartedly say, however, that whatever reservations I had were thoroughly dispelled. Kathryn Hunter from her slight frame through to her awkward, childlike movements, is thoroughly convincing in her role, and her delivery manages to capture both the child's deep understanding, and at the same time incomprehension, of the world around her. Struggling to come to terms with life and death for most people remains one of life's unfinished ambitions, but Hunter manages to convey a child's understanding of the fundamental simplicity of life, beneath the baffling impositions of the adult world.

The production of the play is also impressive. The set reflects the autistic perception of reality by producing an ethereal world of curved walls and skewed dimensions, whilst the barred windows and sparse furnishings convey the isolation and imprisonment of that same world. Combined with the haunting voice of opera soprano, Maria Callas and Huntington's sincere performance, it manages to realise what is a deeply moving but never self-indulgent work. Well worth an hour of anyone's week.

Eavan Buckley 23/04/01