This is good grit. Judith Jones and Beatrix Campbell's play, superbly performed at the Arcola, is a rare example of the council-estate drama done well, holding on tightly to its humanity even as it appals us with its characters' desperation.

Mandy is the mother of Laikeisha, owner of a council flat without a door and a sometime crack smoker.

Responsibility for Laikeisha's care is divvied out among apparently unsuitable family friends -ex-addicts, dealers and ex-cons. Eventually, Laikeisha goes missing.

Blame never gets lost in its own extremity. References to Tracy Beaker and mundane chores, such as signing forms for school, make this world familiar and thus more distressing.

Nor can you dislike its people, played as they are with sympathy and nuance by a great cast: Nicholas Beveney's drug-dealer boyfriend is a relaxing, positive influence on the house. Andrew Paul's Raymond a dutiful, contemplative soul destroyed by his alcoholism.

The direction maintains an edgy, documentary feel: music pumps as scenes start midway through conversations.

Only after Laikeisha's disappearance do things slow down: a time for contemplation as blame is divided among the neglectful mother, the friends who support her and the society that broke her.

•Until 21 April (020 7503 1646).