“A bittersweet love story”
Written by Gareth Williams and Oliver Emanuel, the 2024 Fringe First Award-winning show makes its way to Tayside in this Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep production. With the cast of Pitlochry’s artistic director Alan Cumming (The Traitors US, Taggart, Burn, Spy Kids) and fellow Scottish phenomenon Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter, Wild Child, Bridgette Jones, Trainspotting), the two bring this beautifully bittersweet love story to life through the use of set and song throughout the show.
Straight off the bat, we are introduced to our characters, He and She, accompanied by musical director Gavin Whitworth. The pair delivered such powerful and moving vocals; however, there were some moments when it felt slightly difficult to hear Henderson compared to Cumming, unsure if this was a technical concern or projection levels within the space with a more softly spoken voice, though the pair were breathtaking on stage together with their voices complementing each other. The performance, with its length, felt like you were in a fringe show like its Travfest debut, sitting around 1 hour and 10 minutes, with more opportunities to explore and play around with ideas in the rehearsal process, and the timing was just right without dragging out the story for too long.
Henderson and Cumming’s chemistry is undeniably wonderful to watch; the pair complemented each other so well in their performances that it felt so natural to watch their story unfold from the moment they meet until the very end. The plot follows the pair meeting through a noise complaint and, over time, a shared love for origami and many different ways paper can be presented in our world. Set in the late 90s into early 2000s, there are moments of dated humour and references used in the show which led to audience members laughing and processing outcomes to what could unfold.
The set in the show starts quite monochrome, slowly incorporating colour as the story progresses through colourful set, props and lighting. The duo of Ana Inés Jabares-Pita and Bruno Poet creates an atmosphere of emotions through the use of lighting and set. Oliver Emanuel and Gavin Whitworth have created a show so moving and touching that you can see how much love and care went into the making of this show. This collaboration between Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Dundee Rep is one of a kind and a brilliant collaboration.
The show continues its run at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until the 12th of September before moving to a sold-out run at Dundee Rep with potential extra holds for the run. Tickets are available here.