THE Everyman is to be applauded for its exposure of new works like these. Even if the results are not outstanding, writers must have a forum to develop their work.

These two new plays, both directed by the theatre's artistic director Sue Colverd, were in total contrast; the first attempted to deal with a serious issue and failed to hit the mark, the second took a fairly simplistic idea but made it funny.

Bad, by Norman Waller, reflected our obsession with the underclass and their threat to the rest of us, using a sad, lonely middle aged woman as the victim of an apparently demented housebreaker. Though splendidly acted by Wink Taylor and Maureen Bennett, the piece had nothing new to offer the genre and not one memorable line of prose.

The second, Nature Knows Best by Nick Discombe, featured the same two actors as a pair of sheep, seagulls, then seahorses and, but for a few descents into Carry On-land, was full of laughs and gave a clever and original insight into relationships.

Review by STEVE EVANS