The Rape of Lucrece @ Royal Lyceum Theatre

This imaginative and daring production brings Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece to life. This isn't achieved by cheap attempts at 'relevance' or by hiding the challenging material under swathes of special effects and a cast of thousands. Indeed, the production could hardly be more sparse: Camille O'Sullivan is alone on stage as narrator, actor and singer.

She's accompanied by Feargal Murray's beautiful musicianship on the piano, and there's an ingenious and delicate lighting design. But the show rests firmly on her shoulders. And she carries it off with triumph. O'Sullivan articulates the complex language and word games of the poem with clarity and emotional power, while her smokey Irish singing voice provides a meeting place for Lucrece to intermingle with traditional song and musicals. The show doesn't so much bring Shakespeare up to date as demonstrate how his work permeates all the traditions of our culture. 

This isn't to say there isn't strangeness. The tale is viewed through a Roman-Elizabethan lens, where chastity isn't a personal virtue, but a social prize of honour and reputation. Yet the underlying story is about rape and suicide. It's an uneasy experience to see a woman performing Tarquin's self-justifications and mental preparation for committing rape. It's shocking when the ornate and formal language breaks down to the simple facts of sordid blackmail and brutal violence.

O'Sullivan brings rock star glamour, superb artistry and intelligence to create a performance that is in turns challenging, beautiful, violent and melancholy. The show is a unique combination of text, music and performer. A one-off.