How sad that Shelagh Stephenson’s new play should have acquired even more topicality since it was written. As the first-night audience listened to the story of a teenage boy dying in his brother’s arms after a random stabbing, it was impossible not to think of Jimmy Mizen, the 16-year-old recently murdered in south London. Impossible too not to think of Margaret Mizen’s dignified resolve to resist bitterness towards the family of the youth who killed her son.

Stephenson’s play, written after meetings with both offenders and victims, considers the impact of a senseless murder on those left behind. In her scenario, 18-year-old Danny has been stabbed by a drug-fuelled girl his own age. Following her initial shock and despair, his mother Mary (Denise Black, left, with Steven Webb as Joe) feels driven to meet the girl who did it. So begins the long road towards some level of understanding and possibly even forgiveness – though that remains out of reach as the play ends.