Theatre: CURTAIN CALLS

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Louise Thomas

Editor

The critics were sizzling with sex and violence metaphors when Frantic Assembly erupted onto the theatre scene with its "Generation" trilogy: Klub, Flesh & Zero. Frantic Assembly is "nothing less than the bleeding edge of contemporary theatre," panted The Stage; "A winning and sexy mix of rapid fire poetry," hyperventilated The Independent. There was no doubt about it: this was a company to kick theatre into modernity.

In a rerun of its show Sell Out at the New Ambassadors, it will be using the same formula of violent choreography and twentysomething traumas to crank the audience into action. The work follows four mates who kindle an argument with a few home truths, and watch it destroy the facade that keeps their lives going on a day-to-day basis.

Previous works by Frantic Assembly have attracted an audience more familiar with club culture than theatre to witness its anatomy of modern relationships accompanied by brutal movement and language. For Sell Out it has captured the award-winning writer Michael Wynne (The Knocky) and the choreographer TC Howard (David Glass Ensemble, V-Tol Dance Company) to bring its ideas alive. It's trendy, it's entertaining, and it actually means something. Don't miss.

Frantic Assembly; New Ambassadors, London WC2 (0171-836 6111) from Tue

Rachel Halliburton