Scripted for us all

Shimmer, by Scottish playwright Linda McLean, is a haunting reflection on bereavement. Three women from the same family turn up, wet and bedraggled, at a Loch Lomond B&B, diverted by the bad weather from their pilgrimage to the holy isle of Iona.

Grandmother Hen (the outstanding Una McLean) is convinced that Petal (Lesley Hart) will be cured of her bladder cancer, although neither Petal nor her mother, Missy (Hilary Lyon), share her conviction.

At the B&B they meet three men of comparable ages and, as the dialogue gradually reveals, they all have experiences that resonate with the women's.

The story, in which loss and regret figure heavily, doubles back and forth and is retold in slight variation three times. The compelling and lyrical script demands an alert audience and Lynne Parker's exquisite direction (for the Traverse Theatre Company) maintains our attention. If there is one weak point, it is that the men are noticeably less strongly written than the women.

What we are left with, though, is a profound sense that life is for living - and that we can all write the script for our own lives if we are brave enough.

If Shimmer is a play dominated by women, Take Me Away by Gerald Murphy is definitely one for the blokes. Three brothers gather at the pristine Dublin flat of the eldest, Bren (Joe Hanley). It's so ordered that he keeps a loo roll to hand in the living room as he masturbates over kiddie porn on the internet.

Middle brother Andy (Aidan Kelly), all dashed hopes and whiny resentment, and youngest Kev (Barry Ward), a favoured, lovesick eejit, join Bren in awaiting their Da (Vincent McCabe). They think they have been brought together to be told their mother is ill, but it soon becomes obvious that she has left Da and he wants them to persuade her to come back.

As, one by one, the sons abandon him to his own problems, all the anger about their unloving mother and selfish father comes storming out. The seemingly simple childhood disappointments - no family days out, no throwing sticks for the dog - are powerfully and movingly voiced as the complex adult preoccupations they inevitably become.

The cast is superb and Lynne Parker's direction (this time for Ireland's Rough Magic company) is taut. Murphy's language is fierce, direct, often highly comic and always convincing; his is undoubtedly a name to watch.

Shimmer/Take Me Away are both at the Traverse theatre to 28 August. Information: 0131 228 1404.