JESSICA FISHER’S play began as something very different – set in the aftermath of the 2011 riots – but developed into a taut psychological drama that packs a powerful punch in only an hour’s theatre.

There’s still a speech about those riots but after winning York-based Pilot Theatre’s new writing competition, she and director Katie Posner have turned the piece on its head – and into the head of Joe.

He’s a young man who suffers from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), signified by the repetitive washing of his hands in the sea. The play retains the image from Fisher’s original draft of a young woman, Megan, lying motionless on a beach. From that point Joe battles with his demons as the girl comes round, finds a bloody wound on her head and tries to piece together what’s happened.

There is a third “person” on the beach, seen and heard by only Joe and the audience.

Sheila Atim plays this character Keira with scary feline grace – the voice of OCD in Joe’s head that messes with his thinking and makes him wonder if he’s a killer.

Damson Idris, as conflicted Joe, and Jill McAusland, as anxious Megan, play the ebb and flow of the drama with considerable skill as Katie Posner’s direction combines with set, sound and lighting to create a hypnotic peformance.

  • Until tomorrow. Box office 01904-623568 and online yorktheatreroyal.co.uk