The fact that both these plays are two-handers written by Scottish playwrights called David is not the only thing they have in common. Both mention the Faslane Naval Base in Scotland, home to the UK’s nuclear deterrent, and it is all matters nuclear that form the backdrop to the dramas.
The Letter of Last Resort, by David Greig, featured in The Bomb season at the Tricycle earlier this year and although it has its admirers, I found it ran in ever-decreasing circles. The premise, at least, is splendid: a new female Prime Minister (Belinda Lang) has to pen the epistle, giving instructions for a nuclear submarine captain in the event of the country’s annihilation. A slippery civil servant (Simon Chandler) advises in Yes Prime Minster fashion until we lose patience — just give Australia the bloody weapons — but Lang excels as a new leader testing uncertain principles.
Far stronger is David Harrower’s Good with People, a haunting work greatly aided by some atmospheric sound design from Scott Twynholm. In a desolate hotel near Faslane, receptionist Helen (Blythe Duff) is forced to re-examine all manner of long-held certainties when Evan (Richard Rankin), the boy who bullied her son at school, returns as a confident young man after many years’ absence. Duff and Rankin circle each other with wary curiosity in George Perrin’s poised production, while serving an oblique reminder that Faslane will be one of the major sticking points for a potential independent Scotland.
Until August 26 (0131 228 1404, traverse.co.uk)
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