Fifteen-year-old Charlotte is obsessed with Helen of Troy, the notorious beauty who abandoned husband and daughter, to sate male lust.
This is because Charlotte's mother, another notable looker, has died, forcing husband Harry to drown his grief with drink, and Charlotte to wonder why she hasn't inherited any matrilineal comeliness.
Drama about teenagers often winds up gauche and unconvincing, but young New Yorker Mark Schultz gets not a single Clueless-style word out of place in this gripping examination of one girl's feverish desperation to be loved and lusted after.
Although Charlotte may make the over-emphatic gestures and, like, speak with the curious - yet perfectly realised - inflections of the archetypal American teen, the intensity with which she dedicates herself to the belief that surface beauty is the answer to everything is frighteningly plausible.
Andrea Riseborough, on stage for all of every scene, gives an astonishing performance as Charlotte, portraying a troubled girlwoman who tries to paper over sorrow and loneliness with joyless sexual experimentation.
She is well supported in Gordon Anderson's taut production by Jaimi Barbakoff as airhead friend Heather, and John Sharian as the lumbering, grieving Dad. Highly recommended.
Until 26 November. Information: 0870 429 6883.
A Brief History Of Helen Of Troy
