The Distance (Crucible Studio, Sheffield)

A year after its premiere at the Orange Tree in Richmond alerted playgoers and critics to a major, if unclassifiable, talent, Deborah Bruce's The Distance returns with a joint production between Sheffield Theatres and the Orange Tree. The director and designer are the same, but there are only two hold-overs in the cast, both male – and the dominant characters in The Distance, though not the most sympathetically presented, are female.

The short opening scene sees Bea hesitantly agreeing to share a room in an unscheduled stop-over in Malaysia with Simon, a personable Australian. Next, fast-forwarding with a brisk switch of Signe Beckmann's attractively practical set, she is back in England being interrogated, supported, championed and defended by her two best friends, Kate and Alex, after she has left Simon and their children in Melbourne because she doesn't much care for her role as mother or even think she is very good at it. Kate and Alex, convinced that Simon had made off with the kids, prepare for a custody battle and check Australian parental rights laws on the internet. The depiction of female friends taking the battle to the supposed male predator is viciously funny.

The moral certainties of Alex and, especially, Kate become blurred as their own breakdowns in relationships emerge, but it is only late on that Kate begins to understand that the world is other people. A few predictable clichés in the final 15 minutes are a surprising blemish on a script of blazing wit and bleak confrontations with reality.

Charlotte Gwimmer's production sets a rare pace, dialogue overlapping or racing on with as much precision as attack. Michelle Duncan as Bea hits her one big outburst powerfully, but generally is on the brink of terror, nervously refusing responsibility, unable to take such a hard line with temptations to pleasure.

Charlotte Lucas' Kate is an assertive control freak, bullying all around her into accepting her version of reality, taking major decisions for others in the blithe conviction that she alone knows best. Her husband is not allowed opinions; ideally she would like to extend that to Bea. Lucas' high-octane performance is matched by Charlotte Emmerson, as hysterical in support of Bea as in her fears that her 15-year-old son is in danger as the Brixton riots assume an ever more menacing tone. Sadly, more practical features of parenting, such as the right mobile number, elude her.

Interestingly all the male characters share a sort of unassuming niceness, even Kate's wayward brother-in-law, Vinnie (Steven Meo) who is driven by an underlying sense of justice, as is Alex's son Graham (Joshua Sinclair-Evans) who is jolted from nonchalant teenage cool by the unimaginable depth of Bea's selfishness. Daniel Hawksford (Dewi, Kate's husband) and Timothy Knightley (Simon) complete a quartet of immensely likeable male performances.

Running time: 2 hours (including interval)

The Distance runs at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield until 14 November.