Girls And Dolls

There's much to admire in Derek Bond's production of this demanding two-hander, in which two young women re-enact key episodes from their shared childhood in late '70s Belfast (from encounters with foul-mouthed shopkeepers and sessions together in their tree house to their growing fascination with single mum Dervla)before coming to rest at the incident that would blight their friendship and worse. James Perkins's clever stage design floats the playing area above a bed of deeply symbolic fallen leaves. And the performances are terrific, NiamhMcGrady and Bronagh Taggart's words overlapping like the voice of some sort of mythical two-headed beast. But there's something rather generic about Lisa McGee's script, in which the dialogue is more fluent than felt, and the tragic climax feels rather pat.