“Great script and electric cast deliver on a high-concept rom-com with laugh out loud moments as well as emotional resonance”
Douglas Maxwell’s Inexperience premieres in the Studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the first original play of its 75th anniversary season, and announces itself as a romcom with real depth. Beneath its high-concept premise is a playful, probing take on intimacy, brought to life by a sharp script and an outstanding cast. It is breezily funny without ever searching for the joke. Thoughtful without tipping into being heavy. And packed with subtle lines that allow the actors room to excel.
The story is centered around a student encounter. Robin and Iris meet at a party and, eschewing the sexual tension between them, agree they will touch only once in their lives. Reaching to establish a different type of connection beyond the physical. An attempt to preserve that initial frisson. The go their separate ways. She forgets, he does not. Only for decades later their lives to cross paths again.
Sandy Grierson and Adura Onashile play Robin and Iris in middle age. They are contrasting figures, shaped by different choices and regrets, each carrying the compromises of adult life. Around them, Sophie Fortune and Alexander Tait complete the quartet, first playing the younger versions of the pair in that initial encounter, before reappearing as various characters whose relationships with Robin and Iris serve to tease out the life lessons they struggle to articulate and are coming to terms with.
One of the production’s strengths is the sense of balance. No single character dominates; each is afforded both comic moments and emotional vulnerability. This is particularly evident in the odd-couple chemistry between the central duo of Grierson and Onashile, as they deftly capture both the certainties and insecurities of their characters. While in the ensemble roles the younger actors also get opportunities to shine – Fortune helping set up the play with the youthful energy and wayward misdirection of young Iris, whilst Tait has several scene stealing turns as Arthur the well-meaning mentee of stickler Robin.
The staging is notably minimal: a handful of benches, a TV, a broken guitar, a tuna baguette, a £20 note are among the only props but each is crucial to either the plot or for comedy effect. It is a neat fit for the Studio space in Pitlochry, with the close surround seating of the audience lending itself to the intimate moments.
The pitfall of any high-concept premise is that it overshadows the real core message of a play, but Inexperience doesn’t fall into that trap. It also avoids the grand cliched character arcs, clear resolutions of the rom-com and delivers something that feels meaningful. While some sub-plots are unresolved and secondary characters feel lightly sketched, it doesn’t stop it from being a satisfying and assured piece. Overall, this a brilliant production and worth a trip to Pitlochry to see it.
Directed by the award-winning actor Sally Reid, Inexperience will première in the Studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 13 June – 4 July. Tickets are available here.