* * * *
4 stars

What happens when two saddo losers, who are desperate to become winners, come head to head? Surely something is gonna have to give!  This is the story that is told in this three handed funny play, staged as one of their four offerings, by StoppedClock Theatre Company.

Late night deejay Vince (David Beck) purveyor of all types of media, runs a phone-in with prize shows being to the fore.  This sets the scene for a phone call from the hapless Doug (Neil Frost). The story revolves around this professional competition winner, who is a zero with women, and how his life changed the day he met, and competed against, Fran (Catherine Morris) a fellow winning addict with not much else in her life.  The competition? Trying to out last each other by sitting in a bath non-stop.  The prize? £10,000, but is there more at stake?

The play is well written, tells a nice non-challenging story and the piece is well directed. The empathy one feels for these two is initially grudging, or at least it was on my part, but well before the hour was up I found myself really rooting for them. 

Both Frost and Ms Morris brought warmth to their roles and the character development progressed at the right pace, while Beck as DJ Vince, fulfilled his remit admirably.

I found this play an excellent way to spend an hour in the early Fringe afternoon and judging by audience reaction while leaving I was not alone in this feeling.

So who wins? Doug or Fran? To find out go check it out for yourself, and then the real winner will be you!