There are pros and cons to performing in one of the smallest venues the Edinburgh Fringe has to offer. On the downside, The Box at Assembly George Square holds a much smaller audience than this compelling new play deserves. But in its favour, we’re gifted an opportunity to watch two masterful actors at close proximity. With a clutch of TV and film appearances between them, June Carryl and John Colella have honed their craft, and every single word spoken is delivered with complete conviction.

Set in a police interview room, Blue starts out with a convivial air. Two old friends greet each other with genuine warmth, laughing at the way fate has brought them together. Both belong to the Los Angeles Police Department, but LaRhonda Parker (Carryl) is now part of the Force Investigation Division while Boyd Sully (Colella) is here to answer some tough questions about a recent incident. It’s not long before the laughter falls away, replaced by duels of race and gender, of beat cop versus internal affairs and, ultimately, of wrong versus right.

Immediately on the back foot, Sully tries to offer up some liberal defences: ‘I’m not a racist’ and ‘I voted for Obama’. But his trigger-happy response to a Black man evading questions and attempting to drive away, implies otherwise. Another young man of colour has lost his life at the hands of a police officer, and Parker wants to know how, why and whether it was a justified response or racial profiling. To complicate matters further, Sully (who has clocked up 29 years of service) used to partner with Parker’s husband, and there’s some shady history there muddying the waters. 

Carryl is not only a powerhouse performer but also wrote the play. Her investment is clear in every line, both written and spoken, and by the end she’s wrought with emotion. Despite Carryl’s character having right on her side, as a playwright she found it in her heart to throw Sully a plate of sympathy scraps. He’s in the wrong (he knows it and so do we) yet his struggle to reconfigure his place in a changing world after so many years on the frontline does not go unnoticed. Carryl cites the murder of George Floyd and the Capitol riots as the jumping-off points for putting pen to paper, and her fury at these outrageous events (and many more) is writ large in her script, in her face and throughout this tight, tension-filled drama. 

Blue, Assembly George Square, until 28 August, 5.05pm.