Mike Bartlett’s modest drama Artefacts, in town as part of the Brits Off Broadway festival, peers into the abyss of post-war Iraq society through the eyes of the aptly named Kelly, an indifferent English teenager played with nervy brio by Lizzy Watts. Kelly’s ordinary life with her single mom (Karen Ascoe) is upended by the sudden appearance of the father she never knew, an erudite Iraqi named Ibrahim (Peter Polycarpou) who runs the National Museum of Baghdad. Ibrahim has just an absurd ten minutes to introduce himself before catching a flight back to his war-torn home, but the eventful encounter climaxes when Kelly callously smashes his reconciliation gift: a priceless Mesopotamian vase he “borrowed” from the museum. more ›