Romance is in the air

Both pieces in this Peter Gill double bill, part of the Young Vic's Direct Action series for new directors, are concerned with male anxieties over sexual relationships.

In Lovely Evening, set on a summer's night in Cardiff in the 1950s, Laurence is getting ready for a date, smoothing his hair and knotting his tie.

His father and uncle, both of whom work on the docks, are also getting ready; the night is warm, romance is in the air. The three men exchange few words, but have an innate understanding of each other, partly born, perhaps, from a common grief over Laurence's absent mother.

In The Blue takes place three decades later, in a flat, where Michael and Stewart have just met. The play traces the endless possible trajectories of their relationship, voiced out loud by Michael: what would happen if Stewart said this, if I said that, if Stewart came home drunk; if I told him to go?

Director Daniel Evans beautifully shows how in both plays Gill uses the interior monologue to voice the myriad insecurities bound up in masculine sexual identity, teasing articulate, sensitive performances from his fine cast.

He also locates each play within a specific time and place: Lovely Evening evokes a luminous sense of early summer promise; the constant change of temperature of In The Blue subtly conveys something of the endemic tension and uncertainty of living in the city.

Until Apr 3, Theatre 503, 593 Battersea Park Road SW11, Tue to Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm, £9, £6 concs. Tel: 020 7978 7041. www.theatre503.com Rail: Clapham Junction

Lovely Evening & In The Blue