Two - Everyman Studio Theatre, Cheltenham

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