Once again the Everyman's studio throws up an absolute gem

of a production.

Jim Cartwright's moving, funny and perceptive script is

brought stunningly to life by sensational performances from the

two actors, Jilly Breeze and Adrian Ross-Jones.

They play centres on an antagonistic couple who run a pub,

yet this is no simplistic Den and Angie at war in the Queen

Vic.

There is a heartbreaking subtext to their antagonism, which

is counterpointed by the array of characters presented to the

audience by the same two actors.

Here before us are people we all know - the sad old man with

a heart of gold, the young woman and her boyfriend with

wandering eyes, the lovable Brummie bicyclists in a world of

their own and, chillingly, the leather-jacketed bully and his

downtrodden victim.

The actors leap from part to part in a display of theatrical

athleticism that leaves the audience enchanted, moved, and

thoroughly entertained, and the denouement, in which the

warring couple's dark and tragic secret is revealed, is hard to

bear.

The play is superbly directed by Bill Cronshaw for Dreamshed

Theatre. It runs until Saturday August 2. For all that is best

in contemporary theatre, get a ticket.

Steve Evans