Ordinary Miracles

Within the first five minutes of Kubilay QB TunÁer's new two-hander, a man beneath a sheet has levitated from a sofa - an appetising beginning for a play that promises as much magic as it does drama.

TunÁer, who also stars as the magician Saturno, has created an interesting protagonist for his philosophical look at why people love: his terminally ill magician throws himself into magic and illusions as a way of keeping the real, more hostile world at bay. Having fallen for the passionate Joy (Lale Mansur) he gradually allows her to contribute to his act, with disastrous consequences.

This play has won awards in its native Turkey but feels dreadfully unhappy in the cavernous Arcola. Ahmet M¸mtaz Taylan's direction is hesitant; the poor set design destroys the actors' every attempt at creating intimacy.

TunÁer and Mansur's illusions, including swallowing needles and making a metal ball dance on a sheet, are special, but appear as awkward adjuncts to the play's more reflective concern with the illusory nature of love; itself largely explored through clumps of ponderous dialogue.

On Saturday afternoons this production will be performed in Turkish, which may give it a much needed safety net; as it stands, it's nothing more than ordinary.