CityLife

Coach G @ Taurus

THIS bar and restaurant on Canal Street has quietly been acquiring a reputation as a hip venue for edgy but watchable new writing and Monkeywood Theatre's black comedy, Coach G, is a good example.

We've all suffered nightmare train journeys, but Matthew Clarke's is worse than most as he finds himself trapped amid a highly disconcerting set of fellow passengers, including a drink-swilling femme fatale, a seethingly-bitter married couple, a board-games addict and a friendly hitman, to say nothing of a train manager who veers alarmingly between the eccentric and the terrifying as well as an implacably menacing female inspector.

Stephen Morris's intriguing and compulsive play mixes violence with humour, while celebrating the power of the written word.

It's well-served by a talented young cast, including Martin Gibbons, Sarah McDonald Hughes, Francesca Waite and James Harris, in a number of guises.

Coach G is on at Taurus until Friday, May 13.