With distinctive fast-paced Scottish banter, and a conclusion that goes some way to reconcile sensitive gender politics and the romantic aspirations of the two young men who are hoping for intimacy at the end-of-year disco, VL is a witty and warm study of teenage desire. Beginning with Max and Stevie reflecting on the chances of escaping the dreaded status of ‘Virgin Lips’ (never been kissed), it roams around the detail of school life, mocking masculine stereotyping and finding space for a tender representation of male friendship.

Unsurprisingly for the writing team of Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, it manages to revel in its use of language and vernacular, without avoiding some of the harsher elements of secondary school’s erotic economies. Max and Stevie are charismatic characters, played with child-like energy, who negotiate a path strewn with a school bully, a pitiless shaming culture and their own naïve aspirations.

However, they survive the evening to find their own identities despite peer pressure, with only a slightly fantastical finale. Well-served by an energetic cast, the intimacy of the Roundabout venue and a subtle soundtrack, Hurley and McNair navigate a teenage wasteland with Caledonian panache.

VL, Roundabout @ Summerhall, until 26 August, 8.10pm; main picture: Mihaela Bodlovic.