I have been lucky enough to see some really special performances on stage - John Simm as Elling and Tennant’s Hamlet stand out - but Andrew Scott and, for me especially David Dawson in Richard Greenberg’s The Dazzle immediately shoot right up there with them. 

They are helped, admittedly, by a script that sparkles with quick-witted poetry - Wildean in the first half, and utterly heart-breaking in the second - but Scott and Dawson even outshine their material. 

Scott’s Langley Collyer - a fastidious, genius, naive, anxious, virtuoso pianist - is at once lovable and infuriating; a dichotomy most keenly felt by his brother Homer who, despite having some issues of his own, has dedicated his life to keeping Langley as well possible (there are echoes of Elling here, with broken souls trying to help each other in whatever way they can).

Langley says exactly what he is thinking at all times, but his brother is less easily understood. Dawson’s Homer actively hides his feelings most of the time, whether he’s trying to impress the neighbours he actually dislikes, or swallowing his own emotions to in deference to his brother’s needs. He’s mercurial, has a certain genius of his own, and clearly yearns for a life where he gets to play the lead. Watching his own mind unravel as the two become increasingly penned in by the junk that fills their house is completely devastating. 

The play isn’t perfect. The third part Milly Ashmore (Joanna Vanderham, excellent) is primarily a “catalyst” - as Homer himself calls her - for change in the brothers’ states of mind. But the chance to see these two properly outstanding performances - in a fitting rundown and intimate setting - should not be missed lightly. Day tickets go on sale online at 8.30 each morning - go grab one.