Blistering debut refuses to play the blame game

The danger with a debut play from a social worker who's been in the game 12 years is that it feels like treading on eggshells - more Pantone than war zone.

But Chris Thompson steps fearlessly into the thorny territory, wielding his machete, to produce a visceral, moving portrayal of those caught in the web of 'The System'.

Tommy is born in a prison and suffocated to death in one 15 years later while being restrained by guards.

Amid the ensuing whirlwind of blame and guilt, Carthage treads the knotted path leading to that terrible fate.

Could social workers and prison staff have done more to prevent his death, it asks, or was it sadly inevitable?

The setting screams institution, from the geometric clash of bright colours and sterile greys to the low whine emitted by the unforgiving strip lighting.

But Thompson's subtle but powerful script, aided by Robert Hastie's gutsy direction, fills in the gaps with all too vulnerable, all too human flesh and bones.

This is not a play about social workers or prisons, but about a boy who's passed between social workers and his mum like a ticking time bomb.

There's no shortage of love for Tommy. If anything there's too much, only it's shrouded in a fug of good intentions, suspicion and hard drugs.

I simultaneously wanted to strangle and hug everyone involved - from Tommy's mum Anne, who initially seems more interested in wresting control of the TV than her own child, to social worker Sue, whose collection of woolly cardigans mask a steely interior - and I got the impression that's something akin to how it feels being a social worker.

The cast are superb, especially Claire-Louise Cordwell as Anne, who desperately wants to be a good mum but is hooked on a damaging diet of cocaine, cheap booze and Cash in the Attic.

The warmth of spirit, trenchant wit and dialogue so sharp you could cut your tongue on it are all reminiscent of Vivienne Franzmann's brilliant debut, Mogadishu.

Thompson says he wrote Carthage in an attempt to find out how much good he'd actually achieved as a social worker.

I can't answer that but if he does decide to ditch the day job, it would be very much to the theatre's credit.

* Carthage is at the Finborough Theatre, in Earl’s Court, until February 22. Tickets, priced £9-16, are available at www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk or from the box office on 020 7244 7439.