A rather dour entry in the Oxfringe lineup, Vincent River is a one-act, one hour (or so), play about love and grief. Philip Ridley’s piece focuses on Anita (Rafaella Marcus) whose teenage son, Vincent River, has recently been murdered in a public toilet. She has moved house to escape the memories, but now finds herself pursued by another teenager, Davey (Matt Monaghan). Davey is the one who found Vincent, but it’s unclear why Davey has arrived at Anita’s flat, or why he has been stalking Anita for days. But during the conversation that follows the reasons become shockingly clear and Anita begins to learn more about her son than she’d ever learnt during happier times.

Although the play is ostensibly about grief, what sticks in the mind is the complicated relationship between Vincent and his mother. We are told the two have an incredibly close bond and subsequent revelations about Vincent are perceived by his mother as a betrayal. This anger forms the backbone of her reasoning and response as the story begins. There’s a lot of truth here.

Rafaella Marcus portrays the mother, Anita, as only a superficially hardened, proud character. Her veneer is brittle and as the revelations and descriptions become more shocking (and this play features some pretty difficult, hard-hitting material), her sadness and loneliness manifest in some unexpected ways. Marcus, and her counterpart Matt Monaghan, fare less well with the vulnerable sides of their characters. However, both possess the tension of a compressed spring and this gives their performances an uncomfortable edge.

Like the performances, the writing also becomes less interesting when dealing with heightened emotions. Ridley’s tone can default to stale melodrama. However, it’s the little details of the piece, such as quirks of relationships and, above all, the obvious love-hate relationship between the characters and the play’s setting of London’s East End, which keep things engaging. A mixed success, then, but definitely worth the £6.