Duck, Ustinov Studio, Bath

Ireland is an endlessly fascinating place for the English. We have discovered that across the Irish Sea lies a country whose people, while speaking the same language, are appealingly alien. It is therefore easy to suppose that the fairy-tale leap that Stella Feehily's first play, Duck, made from slush pile to stage at the Royal Court, was facilitated by its Irish setting.

It tells the story of Cat (Ruth Negga), also known as Catherine, also known as Duck - the latter nickname bestowed on her by her boyfriend because of her big feet. A young Dubliner, she works in a drinking-club and lives with a drug dealer. But their relationship is wearing thin as he neglects her in favour of his mates and the pub, and she vents her frustration with him by torching his jeep - an incident that lends the play an explosive opening.

Meanwhile, she slips into an affair with a middle-aged writer, and indulges in some adolescent soul-searching with her best friend Sophie (the excellent Elaine Symons). The play ends with Sophie and Cat setting off, like so many before them, for the bright lights of London.

In the same way that Cat is trying to find herself, so is the play. It lacks both an overarching form or any rhythm. Even a slice of life needs more structure than this, and, like its central character, the play stumbles blindly from one scene to the next without any clear sense of purpose other than a desperate desire to remain the centre of attention. It is too unformed, and so busy trying to be gritty that it omits to offer either insight or engagement. Its primary sin, however, is that too much of it treads the predicable ruts of modern Irish drama.

For example, the men in Cat's life are straight out of The Manual of Clichéd Irish Writing, with Feehily opting to reinforce the myth that Dublin's male population consists of brutish drug-dealing Northsiders, and louche middle-aged authors.

That is not to say that Feehily does not have talent. When not reaching for off-the-shelf caricatures, her characterisation shows some depth. Cat's friend Sophie is a more finely drawn and interesting character than Cat herself, with a bubbling undertow of adolescent anguish leaking out around her tight smile. Feehily also writes some good naturalistic dialogue, and has a remarkable ability to capture Irish family life.

Max Stafford-Clark's production also has fine aspects to it - the sort of bleeding-edge drama that one has come to expect of his Out of Joint company. However, Stella Feehily may well have a really good play in her, but Duck isn't it.

UK tour ends 25 November- 10 January at the Jerwood Upstairs, Royal Court, London SW1 (020-7565 5000)