Having lit up the holiday period with A Christmas Carol, the new management at the Westcliff Palace now changes gear.

This powerful two-hander proves that the Palace team can "do" intimate and searing with just as much panache as they do big, buoyant and bouncy.

Nichola McAuliffe and Stefan Bednarczyk both shine in this account of the relationship between the tormented playwright Tennessee Williams, and the small-time actress turned grand English lady Maria St Just.

When the pair first meet at London party in the 1940s, he is just starting his rapid ascent to become the world's most famous playwright.

She is a penniless Russian aristocrat with a stage career rapidly going nowhere. Two hours of stage time, and half a century of on-stage lifetimes later, their roles have changed.

No holds are barred in depicting Tennessee's descent into a living hell of drugs, booze, foul relationships, self-loathing, cruelty and professional disappointment.

Indeed, his life came to resemble nothing so much as a Tennessee Williams tragedy. Meanwhile, Maria, a born survivor if ever there was one, married brilliantly and settled naturally into life as one of England's great ladies.

Despite their different fortunes, their friendship remained an anchor in both their lives.

There is a strong implication that Maria was in love with Williams, though even her powerful personality couldn't manage to dent his homosexuality.

The relationship between the odd couple makes for moving drama, as well as illuminating the great, self-destructive human Titanic of 20th century theatre.

Five O'Clock Angel is at the Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff until Saturday

Twosome - Nichola McAuliffe and Stefan Bednarczyk

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.