Bookish boy seeks moody girl, progressive parents optional. No hippy angst. If the debut main-stage play by D C Jackson was condensed to a lonely hearts ad, that's probably how this small-town rites of passage would come out, only funnier.
Jackson sets his comic cuts over one long, hot adolescent summer, at the centre of the universe that gives the play its title. For Barry, Michelle and Rab, they've reached that fleeting moment when everything's a matter of life and death, but is blissfully responsibility-free with it. Barry's smarty-pants wee sister, Norma, still has it all to come, bless her, because the gulf between being 14 and 16 is as big a deal as the two bus rides that make Barry and Michelle's three-day love story such a long-distance affair.
If all this sounds rather juvenile, it's probably the point. Because, while the lurch into more serious territory at the end of act one isn't entirely followed up by the second act's double-bluff of a plot twist straight out of Hollyoaks, Jackson has seen Skins as well. Consequently, he recognises that sweet tweeness by itself isn't enough. Rather, Gregory Thompson's increasingly confident production, in association with The Tron, drags Borderline into the 21st century. It remains wilfully charming, but is shot through with near throwaway insights into the magical possibilities of being young.
Scott Hoatson and Kirstin McLean are endearingly gawky as Barry and Michelle, Finn Den Hertog's Rab takes Julie Burchill's zero-tolerance line on anti-working-class language, and Sally Reid's motor-mouthed Norma is a delight. As growing pains go, The Wall looks like one more rite of passage Jackson has to deal with.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article