Review A Conversation at Royal Exchange until 8th December

David Williamson's play is a stark exploration of justice, anger and the human capacity for forgiveness.

A Conversation tells the story of two families united by a horrific crime. While on parole for rape, Scott Williams brutally violates and murders Donna Milsom, destroying both her family and his own. Both families meet in a single room to share their experiences of trying to deal with Scott's actions as part of the healing process - but how can there ever be healing when faced with so much pain?

Based on the Australian government-backed initiative of Transformative Justice conferences, William's play made its British premiere at the Royal Exchange Studio to great acclaim. This revival sees Jacob Murray return to direct, but a new cast and the much larger space of the main theatre.

The characters sit on hard seats arranged in a circle. Derek and Barbara Milsom (Jonathan Hackett and Margot Leicester) face Scott's mother, Coral Williams (Susan Twist), her son Mick and defensive daughter Gail (Paul Stocker and Kellie Bright) and Coral's brother Bob. Also attending is Loren Zemanek (Christine Stephen-Daly), the psychiatrist who approved Scott's parole despite the advice of the other psychiatrists involved. In the centre of the circle stands a photograph of Donna as a constant reminder of Derek and Barbara's loss.

The play is carried out in real time and acted with a huge amount of dramatic restraint and sensitivity. The decision to move the production to the main theatre has its benefits - as the play progresses and the question turns from how responsible a family is for someone's actions to how parenting, mental illness, poverty or society could be blamed, the faces of the audience across the stage become a visual reminder of how we are all responsible for creating the world we live in. However, because of the naturalistic staging there is little movement and the important sense of claustrophobia is lost.

However, A Conversation still inflicts some emotional body blows as the families fling accusations, blame and statistics at each other and reveal the sources of their own guilt over what has happened. Christine Stephen-Daly is particularly convincing as someone unable to resolve her personal guilt with her professional responsibility, and though Kellie Bright hides the emotional core of her character Gail to a certain extent behind her sermons on society, Margot Leicester's portrayal of Barbara Milsom is one of the strongest performances at the Royal Exchange this year. Her balance of dignity, grief and a desperate need to talk about her loss is heartbreaking.

The close of the play leaves the audience without full resolution or answers but this is one of the great strengths of the play. Instead, there are many questions, a heartbreaking sense of how alone each of us becomes in the face of great grief and a final, tiny flicker of hope.