Dyl

Director Clive Judd has a way of making characters pop into three dimensions on stage. In just a few brief scenes, he can tease out what will make them gasp into life.

It’s a skill he amply demonstrates with ‘Dyl’, which is the first show he’s directing for his first season as artistic director of the Old Red Lion pub theatre. He brings emotional heft to actor Mark Weinman’s debut play.

James is in exile in Aberdeen, spending two weeks a month working offshore on an oil rig. He’s running away from something he did, and from a two-year-old daughter. But it’s hard to stay isolated – however hard you try – when you’ve got a live-in landlord like salesman Ryan.

Laurie Jamieson nearly steals the show as Lucky Charms-addicted, anally retentive motormouth Ryan. He’s a twinkle away from a punch in the face, just staying on the right side of loveable. As James, Scott Arthur exudes a quiet, raw grief that resonates off the tiny stage. Their gradual friendship is an odd-couple joy.

There’s also strong work from Joyce Greenaway as James’s worried mother, Wendy, and from Rose Wardlaw as his ex-girlfriend, Steph. Weinman draws their family relationships in believable shades, while expertly mining the comic potential of flat-sharing’s weird intimacy.

Judd’s production switches deftly between ‘Spaced’-style laughs and real sadness. But the stylish effectiveness of designer Jemima Robinson’s oil-slick set belongs to a different, tighter play. Ideas are under-explored. Weinman’s runaway dialogue leaves ‘Dyl’ feeling like a bunch of floating character sketches in need of a stronger anchor than they get here.