The conviction with which a simple narrative plot is presented by the three players engaged in Touched at the Granary lifts Ursula Rani Sarma's play into distinction. The title has a shared reference to child abuse in a rural community and to the simpleminded rescuer with whom the child eventually escapes; the immediate context from which the play looks back at cause and effect is that of a violent city. As the third character makes clear, they have escaped to another kind of hell, carrying their own dangers with them.

Paula O'Donoghue's Cora overcomes a story-line which is not exactly new by the integrity of her performance as the resistant victim; Mark O'Brian gives the difficult role of her brother a pathetic dignity, while Raymond Scannell's abusive pillar of the community is well realised. The Granary/Djinn Theatre production by Kate Neville is directed by Ursula Rani Sarma who sets a strong rhythmic pace to contain the piece within 60 minutes of playing time, not one of which is wasted.

Runs tonight and tomorrow at the Granary. To book phone 021-904275