Smalltown

Three writers, three towns, three different endings.

The seed for Smalltown was sown when a critic remarked that three of the country's playwrights – who grew up not far apart - all seemed keen to exorcise the demons of their teenage years. “Did someone put something in the Ayrshire water 30 years ago?” he asked, and this is the reply. The audience has the chance to save one town from devastation by voting on the ending.

It's not tap water that's causing suspicious goings-on, but bottled stuff produced by an increasingly desperate South Ayrshire tourist board to commemorate the loss of Robert Burns's virginity.

Douglas Maxwell's Girvan-set opener is a scathing sitcom of low-level local authority daftness that benefits from wonderfully game performances by Richard Conlon and Julie Brown but feels a little bigger in scope than its slot permits. It may end on a cliff-hanger, but may be doomed to disadvantage due to its place in the running order.

DC Jackson's Stewarton instalment is much more affectionate, mining the same comic seam that produced The Wall, The Ducky and The Chooky Brae and revelling in the details of small-town life – local radio, weird nicknames and the recreational habits of young farmers – while telling a story of universal teen angst. The characters are familiar, with Sally Reid combining front and fragility while Jonathan Holt bares body and soul as her (track)suitor, but the supernatural dimension sees Jackson go for broke with what's sure to be the most memorable puppet show on a Scottish stage this year.

Last but not least is Ardrossan by Johnny McKnight, who was responsible for bringing the show together and also directing all three parts with flair. Here, the Rabbie Juice is turning folk rabid, representing a major inconvenience for supermarket cafe staff Margaret and Trudy. With baguettes to be buttered and pay-as-you-go credit dwindling, the pair must figure out what to do about the impending zombie apocalypse. The unlikely heroines – played by Julie Brown and Anita Vettesse – earn plenty of laughs, but the plot doesn't quite take shape.

There's a sense that each playwright has been hampered by the show's novel format. Ultimately it's a bit unsatisfying to watch three unfinished stories – and on review night the one performed in full still left its ultimate denouement to the imagination.

While not quite the three-for-one deal it may appear, Smalltown is nonetheless a fun night out and certainly a memorable one.