Frosted panes of glass are wheeled to and fro with the graceful precision of a Bolshoi choreographer. Behind which, shadowy figures emerge from Morgan Large’s metallic design like ghosts to haunt a sextet of lost and lonely Londoners.

Each one of whom in Sally Abbott’s poignant and powerful script, co-directed by Kathy Burke and Scott Graham for Frantic Assembly, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Curve, nurses a cancer which gnaws within.

In Bex’s (Simone Saunders’) case, a literal cancer of the breast which has spread to her liver. In taxi driver Graham’s (Andrew Turner’s) case, raw grief which drives him into a cul-de-sac of despair. In single mother Josie’s (Chizzy Akudolu’s) case, a corrosive combination of disappointment and disillusionment which fuels an overprotective attitude towards her son Manny (Caleb Roberts) who jokes that, with the exception of a cleaner, he is the sole representative of Cambridge University’s African Caribbean Society.

And in the the case of estranged sisters Ange (Charlotte Bate) and Clare (Polly Frame) – both of whom work at opposite ends of the people spectrum: the former caring for hospice patients, the latter regulating human resources – a bruised upbringing. The scars of which are more mental than physical, but hurt more than ever.

On leaving the theatre, a visibly moved audience member remarked to her friend that the show should come with a “health warning” on account of a couple of dramatic plot twists which reduced the auditorium to a pin-dropping silence followed by a chorus of stifled sniffles.

And though the twists are indeed powerful in that they are revealed with a sudden and disarming frankness by the excellent cast – all six of whom bring great depth and humanity to their roles – their impact is diluted somewhat by the sheer number of plot lines competing for airtime.

To give Abbott credit, she gives equal weight to each of the characters whose shift from monologue to duologue mirrors their desire to connect. And though an air of hope is injected towards the end, she avoids tying up the at first disparate but increasingly intertwining plot strands into a happy-ever-after bow. It’s just that there’s enough going on to fill a six-part drama!

Peter Callaghan
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