Gorgeous Avatar

Modern communication is an odd beast. With the evolution of the internet and 24-hour business, it's easier than ever to stay in constant touch with anyone, anywhere, anytime. But it also allows you to hide behind a computer and become incapable of meaningful communication. 'Gorgeous Avatar' treats this paradoxical state of affairs with wry bemusement rather than conscientious indignation, and it gets more than the tone right. A simple set fitted with video installations looks as modern as the play it houses; characters with copious hang-ups are recognisably real; plotlines weave around each other with carefully crafted dexterity. The cast are superb - John Kazek's many incarnations of the visiting American extract the humour from exaggerated stereotype before morphing into someone more substantive, and they offer some relief from the neurosis, grief and restlessness portrayed by Pauline Knowles, Una McLean and Patrick Hoffman. But perhaps a play with this much in its favour doesn't deserve the interruption of a surreal Wild West song and dance. [Julie Balazs]