Mojo-Mickybo

Written by Owen McCafferty and acted/narrated - encompassing 14 characters, in Belfast 1970 - at breath-taking pace entirely by Fergal McElherron and Niall Shanahan, this production by Kabosh is not only an extraordinarily successful piece of theatre but a razor-sharp evocation of the time and place. McCafferty himself was nine in 1970, and his memory for the linguistic quirks and passionate concerns of young boys in that time is remarkable.

Mojo meets Mickybo, they form a gang, build a hut, use "bubblys" as the yardstick by which all aspirations must be measured, throw "skimmers" on the Lagan, go to the Saturday morning pictures and pretend they're Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Cameos from each character's parents, from dubious "Uncle Sidney" at the cinema and from "fag women" in the neighbourhood are brilliantly drawn.

Much of the production's success is of course down to the two actors and director Karl Wallace. The plot is thin, with the play's real worth lying in its impressionism, although there is a denouement of sorts in the final moments - strangely moving after 50 odd minutes of relentless action and dialogue and, without giving too much away, superbly staged.

The stage and lighting design, by Terry Loane and John Riddell, respectively, is uncluttered and effective and the result is that we are drawn entirely into a world that we had all but forgotten and which we all, to some extent, shared at one time in our lives.