The Stage

Pobby and Dingan

Published Wednesday 3 March 2010 at 12:15 by Thom Dibdin

Beautifully crafted and never overplaying the emotions, Rob Evans adaptation of Ben Rice’s short story is given a mature and moving production by Gill Robertson for Catherine Wheels. The themes are dark, but are presented with a light and humorous touch which never shrinks back from its necessarily downbeat pay-off.

A scene from Pobby and Dingan at the Brunton theatre, Musselburgh Photo: Douglas McBride

Scott Turnbull is excellent as Ashmal, the young lad who is trying to cope with life as a teenager in the remote Australian opal-mining town of Lightning Ridge. Not only does his little sister Kellyanne (Ashley Smith) have imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, but his Pommy mum (Ros Sydney) and an opal-daft dad (Damien Warren-Smith) insist on believing in them too.

If it takes a while to gather momentum, there is an easy familiarity about the bantering family relationship - particularly well drawn by the subdued Smith and exuberant Turnbull. And Catherine Wheel’s storytelling technique soon allows the imagination to take off, making it easily believable when Pobby and Dingan are pronounced dead and Ashmal has to search for them, enlisting the town’s help to boot.

The versatile Warren-Smith and Sydney create a raft of larger than life townsfolk with just the right hint of menace. Karen Tennent’s set gives a versatile, multi-layered playing area, from town water tower and to opal mine. Only when Ashmel descends the latter does the script fail to keep it clear where he is, while the odd vernacular expression lacks surrounding explanation. Otherwise, this is a both a tip-top portrayal of small town Australia and an emotionally charged exploration of loss that avoids becoming mawkish.