A life on the stage

It's a populist pitch. One character - six actors. The first is a kid, the last is a senior citizen and - get this - they all take turns playing this same Joe guy. A whole life on stage! The laughter! The tears! I'm seeing Haley Joel Osment and Dick Van Dyke...

Thankfully not. In fact, Richard Maxwell and the New York City Players are an experimental troupe that has built its reputation on a consistently deadpan acting style. There is no vocal inflection and no movement. Instead, the audience must concentrate on the strange, mundane poetry of Maxwell's words.

But what the house style really brings to Joe is the sense of a life in stasis. Events happen to Joe - pretty major events, from shifting jobs to the death of his mother or cuckolding his half-brother - but they don't change him. His mind re-explores the same ground: football, women's arses, his mother. Only his appearance varies, as each actor steps up to take over the monologue.

Joe's life contains a good few deftly handled, humbling moments, as we recognise the insignificance of our own lifelong concerns and the minimal control we have over them. This way - and thanks to a superb coup de thèâštre at the close - the piece leaves quite an impression. But the viewing really is difficult.

Maxwell's stylised prose often seems pointlessly unfocused, while the songs that mark the changes of actor are very mediocre and sung badly. It doesn't help the concentration.

Until Sat, Barbican, Silk Street EC2, Mon to Sat 7.45pm, £12. Tel: 0845 120 7550. www.barbican.org.uk. Tube: Barbican/Moorgate

Joe