GOOD WITH PEOPLE is a 55-minute two hander which premiered in 2010 at a lunchtime theatre called A Play, A Pie and a Pint with the current cast, Blythe Duff and Andrew Scott-Ramsay.
Set in the town of Helensburgh near Glasgow (incidentally, the birthplace of Deborah Kerr and Jack Buchanan), this once stylish resort has seen its fortunes decline since a Nuclear Naval Base was installed nearby. This we are told by hotel receptionist Helen just before she welcomes a young guest named Evan returning to his hometown from Pakistan. He is an unwelcome sight for Helen who soon recognises Evan as a bully who assaulted her young son seven years earlier.
As we learn more about both characters we see the dynamic between them shift from scene to scene. Helensburgh represents home and family for Helen but with her son now grown and living with his girlfriend perhaps she feels stifled and lonely. For Evan the town brings back his unhappy childhood as an navy brat who was in turn abused by the locals.
Evan's overnight stay leaves unanswered questions and tantalising possiblities in this excellent and spare production. The scenery consists of one chair on a hideously carpeted platform but props and costumes cleverly appear as if by magic. Both actors are splendid; Blythe Duff starred in the tv series TAGGART for 21 years and Andrew Scott-Ramsay has married an American girl and relocated here so I'm sure we'll see more of him (although he does have a nude scene in this so there's not much more to see). At 59E59 until April 21st.
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