Although this thrilling production, part of the Barbican's Young Genius season, takes its inspiration from Crime and Punishment, detailed knowledge of Dostoyevsky is no prerequisite.
Before being admitted to the disused industrial space, the audience is given a crib sheet. Then we are let loose, to follow individual characters or simply to wander free in the dark, dank chambers.
What this atmospheric work from director Tristan Sharps and his dreamthinkspeak ensemble provides is a sense of unquiet souls in constant motion.
There is a chorus of greyfaced, black-clad St Petersburg natives who walk, dead-eyed, through the varying tableaux. Iain Pearson's Raskolnikov, wracked with guilt at the murder of the moneylender, proceeds as if submerged in a nightmare.
Lights and voices attract our attention and we follow entranced as characters scuttle about. The piece repeats itself in a loop but the viewer is continually rewarded with fresh perspectives. The first time I entered the tiny, curtained-off piano bar I procured a glass of red wine. A return visit revealed a crucial showdown between two characters.
The cast speak in a variety of languages, but literal comprehension is unimportant. The emotion is the thing, and Sharps and team have done the Russian master proud.
Until 29 October. Information: 0845 120 7554.
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