We're going to be hearing a lot about Mark Ravenhill over the next two weeks. This continually inventive playwright is unleashing a volley of friendly theatrical fire on a host of London venues, with an “epic cycle of short plays” examining the effects of war on modern life.

Each piece is named after a classic work. The Mikado, about a middle-aged gay couple (David Bamber and Philip Voss) dealing with the cancer of one of the partners, has only the most spurious connection to Gilbert and Sullivan and falls rather short of its target.

The Odyssey, on the other hand, fully merits its weighty title and manages to cover more ground, more effectively, in 20 minutes than too much new writing does in triple the time.

The sun-bleached De Chirico-inspired piazza set for The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, the play that follows these early evening offerings in the Lyttelton auditorium, works beautifully for this account of a beleaguered British occupation force in a foreign land. There is, thankfully, no easy anti-war default setting but instead a sober weighing-up of the degradations of battle for all involved, military and civilian alike.

Ravenhill and Tom Cairns direct peppily and ensure that the opening salvo leaves us eager to explore more of this intriguing project.

Until 20 April (www.shootgettreasure repeat.com)