Write-off (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 Freddie (Richard Conlon) is the fifty-something author of several gritty psychological thrillers.  They sell well, he has a following, but his last novel attracted a lot of criticism for it's insensitive treatment of violence against women.  Criticism from young people. 

Enter Ben (Bailey Newsome), a 24 year old postgrad student of literature.  He's been recommended to Freddie by an old friend, who's also Ben's tutor.  And he's just what Freddie's publisher thinks Freddie needs - someone to be his 'sensitivity reader', and defuse those critics before there's anything to get offended by. Ben also thinks he's exactly what Freddie needs, because doesn't every dinosaur need to be brought into the new age? 

The ensuing culture clash, across the generations, brings forth secrets, ulterior motives, misunderstandings and some search for common ground.  There's no right or wrong here, and if Freddie seems like the bad guy to begin with then Ben quickly matches him.  But they have a different appreciation of the world.  The old have memories the young can't fully understand.  And while the old have been young, it wasn't in this new reality of social media and openness.  Both characters are gay, which becomes an essential element of the plot, but it's not their defining characteristic, however much Ben thinks it should be.  As Freddie says, "being gay doesn't make you interesting".  

This is writer Aodhan Gallagher's first staged production, but you wouldn't know it.  The script is top class, with laughs aplenty and surprising depth, taking on an issue that regularly attracts much partisan comment.  When the comedy gives way to tragedy there's genuine pathos, and a moment where the two characters come together and you, as an audience member, can't avoid feeling moved.  

Conlon is superb as the grumpy author, full of sharp sarcasm and disdain for the new mores, his facial expressions a constant joy to watch.  Newsome is great too, intense and well meaning, until he reveals his true motives.  There is genuine chemistry here.

It's rare that an offering from the Play, Pie, Pint series is a duffer.  This is a rarity at the opposite end of the scale, a shining gem of a piece, that is everything you could ask for from a 50 minute comedy drama.  And a little bit more.