IT’S a brilliant concept in the wake of the teenage gun massacre era. In Disco Pigs, two introverted teenagers who set themselves up against the world in Cork are indomitable together, writes Katherine MacAlister.

They have their own language, their own routines, sneer at anyone and everyone, at normality, cliques, fun. They need no-one but each other. But then they grow up and their perfect utopian world comes crashing down around them.

Set in the 90s, the play – being performed at the Cornerstone in Didcot on Saturday – is fundamentally a coming of age story written by Enda Walsh and directed, first at the Young Vic, by award-winning director Cathal Cleary. Darren, a 17-year-old, is played by Ciaran Owens, who had two weeks to rehearse before kicking off on a national tour that has defied expectations.

Aged 26, Ciaran has to remember to shave at noon to look the part, but still jumped at the chance of playing Darren opposite Amy Molloy’s Sinead. He explains: “The audiences love it, because it has such a heady 90s nostalgia of football, Baywatch, and a brilliant soundtrack. But predominantly it’s a story about outsiders who are co-dependent and name each other Pig and Runt.

“They have their own language like a patois and call themselves the King and Queen of Pork city.

“They don’t have any other friends or talk to anyone else but they are taking control back over their lives.”

We find Pig and Runt at a turning point in their relationship. Until then they have been like brother and sister, but now both want to take things to the next level. And while he wants more and starts taking a sexual interest, she is drawn to trying out the real world and wants out. She feels smothered.

“Disco Pigs has elements of a loving but abusive relationship, yes,” Ciaran agrees. “It’s about how damaging an over-loving relationship can be, something that we see all the time.”

So what happens to Pig and Runt? “Well I can’t give the game away but there is a rather violent climax, let’s put it that way,” he says. “But fundamentally it works because people can relate to it.”

Disco Pigs comes to the Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot, on Saturday. Call 01235 515144 for tickets.