Don’t be deceived by the bustle dresses and military frock coats, as this new adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel is very much a play for today. Yes, it’s still set in 19^th-century Moscow and St Petersburg, and the inconceivably unfair laws of marriage and parenthood still apply. But writer Lesley Hart and director Polina Kalinina look at this Russian epic through 21^st-century eyes, and with an empathy for the plight of women and children that Tolstoy felt but couldn’t possibly embody.

^{Pictures: Robbie McFadzean}

A clever theatrical device, whereby conversations and interactions that happen in different places and times appear in the same scene, takes a moment to grasp but then drives the action along at a consistently engaging pace. So much so, that at first you wonder if, amid the swear words, sex scenes and witty repartee, we’ll find time for emotional engagement. 

But find it we most certainly do, in the tumultuous romantic relationships, the inner angst and outward rage of this very human cast of characters. Against an atmospheric soundscape of screeching trains and crunching knuckles, they search for love in a world of relentless infidelity. Most poignant of all is the heartbreaking impact these adults and their actions have on Anna’s young son, who looks on in a state of confusion and loss.

Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Saturday 3 June; Bristol Old Vic, Wednesday 7–Saturday 24 June.