Harry Mould's "entertaining" debut play, "The Brenda Line", is inspired by a "curious historical detail", said Mark Fisher in The Guardian .
Between 1972 and 1987, the Samaritans set up a service run by female volunteers ("Brendas") to answer obscene helpline calls from "telephone masturbators". The playwright's mother saw the service at first hand during her time volunteering for the charity in north Wales as a young woman – and it's her experience that sparked the idea for Mould's "sparky two-hander".
Set in a small Scottish town at a Samaritans two-desk call centre, the action follows long-serving volunteer Anne (Fiona Bruce) and the youngest, newest member of the team, Karen (Charlotte Grayson), who has recently arrived from London and "fizzes with feminist zeal".
When regular caller Daniel fails to phone at his usual time, Anne becomes increasingly concerned for his welfare; Karen dismisses him as a "punctual pervert" and decries the older volunteer's "playing an active role in the subjugation of women".
From sex and danger to exploitation and "what constitutes a cry for help", Mould expertly weaves together a series of interesting questions. The Edinburgh -based playwright acknowledges the "absurdity" of the Brenda Line, without at any point "diminishing" the role of the charity.
Bruce and Grayson are "tremendously engaging" in the starring roles, said Mark Brown in The Telegraph , and Natalie Fern's "simple yet effective" set is "assiduously evocative" of the late 1970s with its colourful rotary-dial phones and desk lamps.
Mould's script "sparks with laugh-out-loud humour that belies the piece's subject matter", and the disagreement between the two women is portrayed in a way that is both "engrossing and unerringly plausible".
Perhaps a "gentler" drama than you might expect given the subject matter, the production by director Ben Occhipinti is "nicely paced and balanced".
But at just 80 minutes, "The Brenda Line" is not long enough to justify the interval , said David Pollock in The Stage , and despite its short running time, some of the sections feel "overlong or superfluous".
Still, it's a "confident and adventurous debut" from Mould that "warmly and amusingly touches on alienation" while avoiding "moral judgement".
Despite its "sexual frankness", added Mark Fisher in The Guardian, "The Brenda Line" is at its heart a "sweet comedy about acceptance and making all of us feel human".
"The Brenda Line" is at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until 18 September, then at Traverse, Edinburgh , 13–16 November
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