Seconds Out is a tight, rough, tough drama set in the world of amateur boxing and pretty impressive it is too.
It was written by ex-Brookside writer Helen East whose contribution to that Liverpool soap included the incest storyline.
There is equally strong meat in this tale of boxing trainer Al and his star boxer Danny who has just been selected to represent England in the Commonwealth Games.
But everything else is going wrong for the two characters in this one act two-hander.
Al is sleeping in his gym after a row with his wife while Danny has trouble at home with a father who beats his mother.
The dialogue comes straight from the street, particularly with Al as played by Drew Hancock.
This is how someone like him would speak, hard, sweary and aggressive.
Danny (Andrew Madden) is slightly softer spoken but no-one’s fool.
They are meeting to celebrate Danny’s selection for the Commonwealth Games and Al’s opening of a new gym.
By the end of the play, both their dreams are in tatters.
