Spring Reign review – rough and ready account of the Syrian conflict

It took thousands of years to build Aleppo and only a few to destroy it, as Bashar al-Assad turned on his own people. Inspired by testimony from Syrian refugees, aid workers and journalists, this rough and ready evening, written by Rob Johnston, focuses on the period between 2012 and 2013 when the city was besieged.

In a small flat, Salah (Marlon Solomon) and Aisha (Rhîan McLean) are struggling to survive, but they stretch out the hand of hospitality to their friends Mark and Claire. Mark is a photojournalist struggling to get his work published by news outlets who don’t want to run pictures of dead children. Claire is an English teacher who has stayed too long in the city hoping for news of her blogger fiance, Rashid, who was arrested months ago.

The piece is often clumsy: full of exposition lacking momentum, spliced with unnecessary fable-like interludes and barely scratching the surface in its exploration of the morality of war photography. Despite these flaws, the relationship between Salah and Aisha feels fully fledged and believably complicated as the price of freedom mounts.

It is most compelling – both as theatre and in its attempt to bear witness and give a voice to Syrian people – when it is at its most direct and simple. Nowhere is it more searing than in Aisha’s devastating monologue, in which she quietly tells of seeing a child used as target practice by government soldiers.

• At Nottingham Playhouse on 27 May. Box office: 0115-941-9419. Then touring until 3 June.