A handsome young man enters Marjorie’s flat and is quickly revealed as a dangerous, sophisticated and ruthless rapist. She manages to overpower him, injure him and lock him up. 

So begins a battle between the sexes, between brains and brawn, between life and death. The clear boundaries between attacker and victim blur, and a rage-filled, primal struggle erupts between the two.

The playwright leads us with a sure hand into Marjorie’s ordeal: Once the immediate threat has passed, she feels a burning need for revenge – and so she too becomes a victim of her own urges, thirsting for power and aggression.

When her two flatmates return, their views turn out to be very different from hers. Terry, who went through a similar trauma in the past, acknowledges that sometimes the victim is a partner in the crime; and Patricia believes it is wrong to take the law into your own hands.

The play deals with survival in a violent society and raises social questions about individual freedom and the status of women: What are the reasons for rape? Is there true legal equality between the sexes? How loyal are women to one another? How much power do men hold over them?

Above all, this is a breathless thriller with a surprising ending.