Continuing London's boom time for 1960s revivals - along with, for example, John Osborne's Luther at the National and Harold Pinter's The Homecoming at the Comedy - Max Frisch's drama about the rise of fascism in Europe opens at the Young Vic tonight.

The Young Vic's previous production was another '60s revival as well: David Rudkin's Afore Night Come. The other link between the shows is that they have both been co-productions with the National Theatre Studio. Andorra was first performed at the National Thetare in 1964, and was very much part of the 1960s political theatre of that decade.

The play was seen by contemporary critics as a way of the Left understanding the nature and impact of the fascism that had scarred Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The themes of invasion, refugees, and religious persecution, which when Andorra opened belonged to Europe's past, have now been given an added resonance after events in the Balkans over the last decade.

Directed by Gregory Thompson, Andorra is playing at the Young Vic for a short run until Nov. 10.

Young Vic Box Office: 020 7928 6363.

—by Paul Webb Theatrenow