First seen under the banner of Òran Mór and Paines Plough’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint programme, Good with People promises rather more than it can deliver.
For much of what eventually extends to over an hour, the audience is left on tenterhooks as to exactly what historical trauma Blythe Duff as Helen and Evan played by Richard Rankin have in common.
The pair, a generation apart, meet at a hotel in Helensburgh, which is their hometown. Helen is a hotel receptionist, while her guest has been away for seven years, latterly working for the Red Cross in Quetta, Pakistan.
From the early exchanges, it is apparent that something bad has happened and gradually we learn that the highly literate youngster had once victimised the lady’s son.
Slowly the story emerges as a bond develops between the duo, which becomes something akin to love by the end of a play in which few loose ends are tied up.
Amongst other topics, it does tangentially allude to the mixed views of nuclear deterrents that are also explored in its companion piece The Letter of Last Resort.