Here is a review of the latest performance at the Arcola, written by our arts correspondent Bryony Hegarty.

Twenty-eight-year-old Rosie, played by Sarah Gordy, visits her mother for the weekend in a studio flat beside the sea. This is the first visit 'home' since Rosie's parents embarked on a joint suicide pact, which her mother survived.

Rosie, who has Down's Syndrome, now lives in supported housing, with a living allowance, a key worker and lessons in life skills. Marion, Rosie's mother, played by Katherine Terris with great sensitivity and dignity, has spent the last 28 years drowning in the day-to-day struggle of managing their lives. Of the two women, Rosie is the more self-certain and confident. Sarah Gordy raises a significant number of laughs from the audience, in a moving and engaging performance. Marion, we sense, has carried such a burden she hasn't really had any time to be a person in her own right. The only objects of personal significance in her flat are her pebbles from the shore.

The set design, with stark white walls and fittings, flecked blue floor, reflective surfaces and pebbles from the shore, is suggestive of water, coldness, sterility and a sense of loss. The opening sequence of the play and its setting indicate that Marion's mind is still very much wrapped up in the drowning. Music and sound by Peter Salem, and the imagery of pebbles in Catherine's coat pockets, all evoke location and emotion.

In a moment of loss, impulse and denial, Marion has told Rosie that her father swam out to sea to save a little girl 'with pig tails and green eyes', got into difficulty, and drowned. Rosie has concluded that her father wanted to save the little girl, because she, unlike Rosie, was not Down's Syndrome. Ultimately, through Rosie's constant broaching of the subject, Marion realises she will have to be a little more honest about the circumstances of the drowning.

This is a lyrical piece of writing, the imagery of the sea: the story of the little girl, tenderness between the characters, and Sarah Gordy's natural ability to deliver a comic line result in a touching and thought provoking evening. Stevie Smith's Not Waving But Drowning is a clear point of reference within the script. Writer Beverly Hancock describes 'Into the Blue' as 'an exploration of what happens to carers of special needs children who don't cope'. On some levels the play is about a family in which the daughter happens to have 'special needs' rather than a play about a 'special needs' child. Rosie's need for privacy, her attachment to her mobile, and a reluctance to share a bed with her mother for the night, are all symptomatic of many parent-child relationships as independence develops.

Deborah Paige's production strikes a subtle balance between demonstrating that independence can be achieved on a practical level through routine and support, while huge issues around the articulation of emotions remain a profound challenge for carers and those for whom they care.

Arcola Studio 2

Runs until July 24

www.arcolatheatre.com