This Is How It Goes at SiLo Theatre

Mark Ruka (L), Sarah Wiseman and Roy Snow rise to the challenges of This is How it Goes.

Silo Theatre's first show of the year couldn't be more timely. This explosive exploration of the insidious nature of racism opened on Waitangi weekend, and at a time when the media is debating whether it is proper to publish the Muhammad cartoons.

But newsworthiness is not the only reason to see this latest provocative work by Neil LaBute.

This Is How it Goes - beautifully written, well directed, acted and designed - is contemporary theatre at its best, providing a visceral experience no other medium can match.

It takes us to smalltown America to examine the relationship of Cody and Belinda Phipps.

Blond cheerleader Belinda has scandalised the town by marrying African-American track star Cody, and he has shocked townsfolk by becoming their richest and most successful resident. The lie of their perfect life is exposed by the return of an old school friend with unrequited lust for Belinda.

As a three-hander, This Is How it Goes puts pressure on the actors to perform, and Mark Ruka as Cody, Sara Wiseman as Belinda and Roy Snow as the narrator are up to the task.

Newcomer Ruka showed no first-night nerves and nailed Cody's character by successfully showing us all his strengths and weaknesses.

Wiseman has little to work with, yet manages to create a character where little more than a cipher has been written.

The standout of the trio is Snow, playing the former fat boy and high school loser whose self-effacing charm is irresistible to Belinda.

He is a real audience-charmer too, especially when he stops the action to talk directly to us about what is happening.

But, as with Belinda, we learn too soon that it is not wise to love or trust too much and our everyman narrator is not as reliable as we would like to believe.

As a complex piece delving into big issues, This Is How it Goes is not a night out of light entertainment - but that's not to say it isn't funny.

First-time director Jeff Szusterman places the piece in the same sort of territory as American Beauty and Twin Peaks, highlighting the humour in the awful and the weird behind strip-malls, big brands, and everything regular America.

This approach is reinforced by Elizabeth Whiting's perfect department-store costumes and Simon Coleman's set with its bland, blond wood and furniture-catalogue props.

There is also a nifty revolve - spinning the actors and set pieces around like cartoon characters chasing their own tails.

LaBute is known for showing the ugliest aspects of human nature, so although it is no surprise that Belinda and Cody aren't happy, the plot has enough twists and turns to keep even the most intelligent audience member guessing, and even by the time we reach the required happy ending there are still multiple explanations for how it went.

LaBute has been accused of cynicism, misogyny - and with this piece, accusations of racism will doubtless follow.

But spoon-feeding an audience is one thing he couldn't be accused of, and I found it refreshing to be left to make my own judgments on the characters and even on what actually happened.

When: until February 25