Festival review: Visiting time; Gilded Balloon Teviot (venue 14)

Bed-bound in a private hospice, Piers is about to shoot himself when his best friend turned mortal enemy, Tom, arrives for a final verbal set-to.

They worked together bringing aid to impoverished parts of Africa, but one of them contracted Aids from a Nairobi prostitute and passed it to the other via Tom’s wife, the third corner of a bitter love triangle.

As revelations and realisations flow, the strived-for tension, sadly, isn’t there across what becomes a long hour. The core concept is sound and the cast are very capable, but they are let down by a contrived script and flat staging.

Rating: **

• Until 26 August. Today 2:30pm.

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