Star rating **
A pair of interlopers arrive in a small Scottish coastal town in this sketch of a play by Alan Wilkins, which starts out looking like it might be a timely exploration of conflict and compromise in a time of economic troubles.

However, as it progresses with an efficiency that precludes character development, it reveals itself as a shallow mystery that may appeal to an audience of older teenagers, but perhaps only in areas where Guy Ritchie's latest is not screening at the local cinema.

The play's desperate lack of subtlety isn't helped by the casting of Morvern Gregor's production for Birds of Paradise Theatre Company. The glamorous Karina Jones and the not-so-glamorous Billy Mack make an instantly suspicious couple, both physically and in their confrontational manner. This need not have been a stumbling block, but as the tale unfolds, Edinburgh-born playwright Wilkins reveals his small-town residents to be both naive and corruptible.

There's an interesting debate to be had about the moral issues raised by the intriguing premise, but aside from a laughably grave admission to do with dolphins, the play swerves right around it. Nick Field turns in an admirable performance as a young man stifled by a lack of opportunities but he looks too old to be the boyfriend of Danielle Stewart's Kerry, even if we are to believe that there aren't many eligible men in the area. Hazel Blue's boat/shop set is the best thing about Offshore, but whoever is flogging unnecessary hydraulics to Scottish theatre companies (see also the NTS's 365) is running an even better racket than any of the characters in this play.