Exploring the father-son bond

There's something uncrushable about Dave, the lead character in Me And Me Dad.

We first glimpsed the aspiring actor in My Favourite Summer, Nick Lane's 2007 comedy drama.

Back then, he was a young student brutally menaced by Melvin, his psychotic co-worker at a scaffolding factory.

Having survived that, Dave's got no less of a challenge in his latest outing.

In Nick's new play, immaculately performed by the three-strong cast at Hull Truck, Dave's returned to Doncaster to help his dad learn to cook.

Now 26, and a struggling actor in London, he's a little older and a lot less naive.

And while the circumstances are bleak – the play starts with the aftermath of the funeral for Dave's mum, Jean – the carefully-weighted script creates something warmly affirming.

Where My Favourite Summer fizzed brightly in the clash between Dave and Melvyn, this is a deeper, gentler play that explores the bonds between father and son.

But it's no less funny for that.

The clash between this odd-couple – the now urbane Dave (Matthew Booth) and his resolutely down-to-earth dad, Pete (Eamonn Fleming) – is a constant patter of difference.

Pete, desperately missing Jean, seems prepared to live on pepperami – dismissing Dave's couscous as being "like the contents of a hoover bag".

Dave, for his part, is faintly infuriated by his Dad's naivety in the kitchen and constant mangling of names. At one point, Pete claims Terry Wogan is called "Tony Womble".

That's nothing, though, compared to Dave's sin of re-branding himself as "Andy Green" for his acting work.

"A lot of people change their name for their jobs," he protests.

"Yeah," says Pete. "Wrestlers and criminals."

Despite this, there's a huge affection between the two of them, not least in their memories of the past.

At points, there are flashbacks to life with Jean (Úna McNulty), in a set decorated with huge, poster-sized blow-ups of family-snaps.

In the lead roles, Matthew and Eamonn create a convincing portrayal of two men trying to move on from their grief.

And Úna moves easily among characters including Jean and the gravel-voiced neighbour Auntie Joyce – cooking speciality ham and pea-soup with Vimto.

One woman sitting nearby me alternated between laughing out loud and crying.

I can't really give a better recommendation than that.

* Me And Me Dad is on at Hull Truck Theatre, Ferensway, Hull, until Saturday, February 20, 7.30pm.

Tickets are £9-£18, call (01482) 323638.