I went into the theatre last night knowing nothing about these two short plays except the titles, and left feeling I'd made a very good choice.

Trifles is a play set in early 20th century America (the south by the sounds of the accents) and all the action takes place in the kitchen of a farmhouse as the local law enforcement, a male witness and two of their wives try to piece together the details of a crime that has taken place. It quickly becomes apparent that the real emotional centre of the play is the two women, and what started looking like a traditional whodunnit becomes something more compelling.

The set harmonises beautifully with the story, combining a touching realism in presenting the contents of the room while the walls and exits fade before the eye. The acting is thoughtful, and once the sound of the accents (some which need a little more settling into, perhaps) becomes familiar the performances reveal intimate details about the characters and their relationships and status, although the show is comfortably stolen by Sarah Hickingbottom as the effusive Mrs Hale.

The second play of the two, Moving Scenes, is a very different beast, examining a relationship as it is on the day a couple move into a flat, young and full of life and hope, and on the day fifteen years later when they pack to go their separate ways. The structure, in which the same set (strewn boxes of half packed/unpacked books and a coffee machine loaded with symbolism) is occupied alternately by the two couples as we jump backwards and forwards in time, then simultaneously when the action of the each strand becomes uncomfortably relevant to the other, is ingenious and works exceptionally well to expose the connections and causes underlying their problems. The transitions could perhaps have been tighter however when the actors are almost sharing each other's sentences across the time gap - sometimes the pauses were too long to sustain the sense of such a close mesh.

The actors are well cast, and performances are strong from all four, although the older couple most impressed with a truly painfully convincing portrayal of a relationship breakdown which was difficult to watch.

Two strongly contrasting pieces of theatre then, and I would wholeheartedly recommend a visit, although in the interests of leaving the audience in a more stable emotional state, I would want to see Trifles performed after Moving Scenes.