NICK BRELSFORD returns to the Write Now festival of one-act plays with The Bridge, pivoting on a random meeting of two strangers in front of a painting.

For Emily (Hayley Allerton), the work is a connection to her hidden ancestry; for Angie (Nicole Gaskell), it is very much about the present and her current experience of being torn between two men.

There are some interesting concepts – the women’s heated discussion about interpretations of the work is the most interesting passage in the play.

But Emily’s grandparents’ story, though potentially fascinating, is never fully told and ultimately the script is too laboured and involves too much navel-gazing to even vaguely hit the spot.

In contrast, Natalie Hickman’s Monkey Nuts is a well structured piece run through with a gentle sense of humour tinged with sadness.

Jan is making her regular visit to her mum’s house with daughter Leigh in tow, in a plot which plays to the strengths of the one-act format by constricting it to a single room. This is a story where dialogue and human relationships are more important than action, and that’s to its credit.

The three women are played well by Lesley Hendry, Jolene Howorth and Yvonne Pinnington, and though you are only in their company for 40 minutes you feel touched by their lives.

Laura Davis