SCARBOROUGH

A FOND KISS

Chelmsford Theatre Workshop at the Old Court

15.06.10

A Fond Kiss is nothing to do with the Ken Loach film, not much to do with the Robbie Burns song, or indeed with Simon Beattie's stage play about the poet's life. Anne-Marie di Mambro’s beautifully crafted miniature begins with Lola, in Tigger slippers and a dressing gown, watching East Enders in her crummy Glasgow flat.

It's Zed's birthday, and his mates have chipped in, found Lola's calling card in the phone box, and he's knocking on the door to claim his present. Sean Hammond gave a memorable performance, a master-class in youthful embarrassment and awkwardness. Debbie Miles was equally impressive as the whore with a heart of gold, reclining like Olympia on her leatherette settee. There were plenty of laughs, with delicious juxtaposition of the wiry Jack Sprat lad and his ample temptress, his nerves and her no-nonsense ministrations. But there was a painfully tragic moment as her thick skin is pierced by a thoughtless remark, and their tender embrace as he leaves for a real date was poignant and very moving.

The companion piece was Fiona Evans's Scarborough. Another generation gap, another birthday present, but this time it's our turn to feel awkward, thrust into voyeuristic proximity with an under-age student and a PE teacher. Their illicit weekend is dogged by feelings of guilt and jealousy – we know from the start that their two-and-a-half-day affair can never have a future. Game Over on the PSP, phone pics deleted.

David Woolford was a totally believable Daz, his teenage bravado failing to mask the little-boy tears as he faces rejection. Kelly McGibney's Lauren – her job on the line, a wedding looming – was wonderfully torn between the ecstasy of the moment and the need to get real. Great chemistry between these two actors – arguing back to back, romping, teasing, flirting and fighting.

It's the sort of play that has people talking in the interval. There are huge moral questions here, of course. Not least would it make a difference if the older partner were a man. We get plenty of chance to ponder that one, since in this version there's a reprise with the roles reversed. A rather posh Beth [Anna Jeary] speaks Daz's lines, and the PE teacher is Danny Segeth's Geordie Aiden. Partly because of the accent barrier, partly because of the deja vu, I didn't care quite as much about this relationship. And, yes, there is a difference, of course, but Evans leaves us to work it out, and although we are uncomfortably close to the action, we never get anywhere near understanding why any of those involved would want such a relationship in the first place.

The plays are sometimes done as site-specific pieces, with a dozen or so spectators crammed into a real hotel room. Would the County not play ball, I wonder ?

These two thought-provoking plays are just the sort of thing CTW does well – they were directed with considerable courage and a steady hand by Lynne Foster, assisted by Steve Holding.