Oliver Gomm in Mariupol [Tom Crooke]

KATIA Haddad’s two-hander builds in intensity and leaves you wanting more. Taking place over three decades, the play tracks back and forth between Moscow and Mariupol as we follow the fates of two former lovers living on opposite sides of the border.

Mariupol opens in Moscow in March 2022. Galina (Nathalie Barclay), mother of a Russian conscript, sends out a desperate plea on behalf of her son, a prisoner of war with the Ukrainian army.

In the summer of 1992, Galina, a young Russian student on holiday in Mariupol, falls for a Ukrainian Merchant Navy officer, nicknamed Steve (Oliver Gomm), and they enjoy a brief but intense romance.

Ten years later they meet again in Moscow where Steve is receiving medical treatment. In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Galina tries to get through to Steve, now a territorial defence commander, in the hope he can locate her son.

The final and most intense act takes place in a bunker under the bombed Azovstal. Galina is there to rescue her injured son and needs to persuade Steve to release him.

Although Haddad’s bittersweet drama is a tad predictable it’s utterly compelling. Played in the round, John Retallack’s engaging production makes good use of the space. The actors are initially a little self-conscious, but it’s hard to simulate dancing with abandon in a Ukrainian night club when there are only two of you.

As the stakes are raised and tension grows, the performers settle into their roles and work their magic.

Warmly recommended.

Haddad’s play supports the David Nott Foundation which trains doctors in countries impacted by conflict and catastrophe including Ukraine.

until February 22
thecockpit.org.uk/