I saw quite a smart little play last night. It was part of the Leith Festival, handily staged just round the corner from my place of work but the deciding factor from my point of view was that it was directed by Liam Rudden.

Called “Cock and Bull Story”, it was written by a couple of chaps called Richard Crowe and Richard Zajdlic. It’s a measure of my innocent eyes that I saw no insinuation in this until Ross investigated the website.

The play is “set in the working class, testosterone fuelled world of a boxing club” and tells the tale of a long-standing friendship between a verge of boxing stardom boy and his best mate. Unfortunately it turns out that Mr Verge of Stardom suffers from an unfortunate sexual issue when he boxes. His friend shuns him as a consequence.

Actually, the production was much better than this makes it sound. The two boys were brilliant (and pretty). Full of proper ‘working class’ energy. The lighting was cracking. And Mr Rudden directed beautifully, particularly considering the stage must have been all of eight foot square.

The script started out full of promise to my mind but is creaking with age a little by the time it meanders to the end of the second act. It was written almost twenty-five years ago. It sounds as if the writers might have been American. So I’m curious about how it got “Scottified”. It’s clearly all credit to how times have moved on that it starts to seem slightly far-fetched as the best friend spurns his friend by the end of the second act. But the boys do it as much justice as you possibly could so the end is still fairly poignant.

It’s on til Saturday. I would say it was worth seeking out. It also happens to be located in a lovely little café – he calls himself a bistro – called Kitsch which is worth a visit just because he’s new and I’d like him to do well. The best of reasons!