So what sort of message does the title Topless Mum send out? Certainly, I'd suggest, that the entertainment on offer is going to be frivolous and, very probably, salacious. No doubt, this is what put off so many of the discerning theatregoers that make up the Playhouse's core audience. The rows of empty seats on the opening night told their own story.

In fact, Ron Hutchinson's tautly written play turns out to be precisely the kind of intelligent drama favoured by regular patrons - and drama, moreover, on the most serious of themes. Its subject is the alleged abuse of al-Qaeda suspects by members of the British armed forces. By an astonishing coincidence, the improper conduct of which they are accused - the forcing of Afghan prisoners to perform homosexual assaults upon each other - is precisely the sort figuring in headlines this week. The play suggests parallels, too, with another horrific episode that has lately been prominent in the news.

The focus of Hutchinson's interest is on a tabloid newspaper's handling of this sensational (and possibly untrue) story, which accounts for the misleading title. No guesses which rag is being fingered - especially after its editor Kyle (Giles Fagan) tells his reporter: "This shows what happens if you let principles get in the way of self-interest."

By this stage, the reporter Annie (Emma Lowndes) is a very worried woman. The story of abuse she has cajoled, through clearly false demonstrations of sympathy, from injured squaddie Barry (Alistair Wilkinson) and his tough cookie missus Tiffany (Louise Kempton) is beginning to look distinctly shaky.

Worse, the photograph depicting the supposed attack is obviously as much of a fake as the snaps that sealed the fate of Piers Morgan of the Daily Mirror. Elementary really, for as the Army's investigating lawyer Kennedy asks cuttingly, could Barry have used his mobile in Afghanistan?

Sylvestra Le Touzel's performance as the principled Kennedy is one of the strongest features of this gripping two-hour play, directed by Caroline Hunt. The scene in which she interrogates another of the alleged abusers, Mitch (Jason Deer), is perhaps the highspot of the drama.

The play continues until tomorrow night, and is highly recommended. Box office: 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com)