The Wrestling School (UK) is a theatre company dedicated to performing the plays of Howard Barker, increasingly directed by the author himself. They have brought Scenes from an Execution to the Dublin Theatre Festival; and, as an example of their work, it is a superb vindication of the concept of such specialisation.

The play is set in Venice just after the battle of Lepanto, and a prominent artist, a woman named Galactia, is commissioned by the Doge to paint a huge canvas of the battle scene. What he, his brother-Admiral and the Cardinal really want is to have the event depicted as the highest form of self-sacrifice by their citizens, as divine in its way as the Crucifixion. But, as patrons of the arts, they are too delicate to direct the artist's vision.

Galactia sees the battle differently, a mess of sliced bodies floating on the waves while their officers look on impassively. She does not seek to make a political or other point, being simply and utterly in the grip of her perception of the truth. When her patrons see where her work is going, they turn on her with fury. She is imprisoned, with her very life at risk. But events still have a few turns to take, and a bleak and sardonic denouement lies ahead.

A summary of the plot cannot do justice to the depth of thought and characterisation embedded in it. Galactia is a fascinating creation, a woman complete in her knowledge of herself and of her work. Kathryn Hunter embodies her in a performance which is altogether stunning, drawing roars of approval at the curtain.

The author directs with a sure sense not only of his own characters and words, but of what devices will work in the theatre. He has a most effective set design by Tomas Leipzig to help him in this, and Lucy Weller's simple and elegant costumes.

Runs until Saturday. Booking from 01-4627477.