This tight, new comedy two-hander from the team behind hit comedy Cockfosters (2023) sees a recently broken-up couple (Robert Kot; Olivia Bernstone) go on holiday together. The whole play takes place in one hotel room in Venice, with flashbacks to the highs and lows of the couple’s failed relationship.

At under an hour, the play is taut, fresh, and funny: the audience are roaring with laughter from the moment the doomed couple enter the room, and there’s many more laughs besides. But what typifies Tom Woffenden’s script is his fine observation about the push-and-pull of two people who love each other, and really want to make the relationship work; but just can’t. Such fine observation is particularly moving, as we cannot help but see ourselves in the hapless couple’s shoes. For a comedy, it’s surprisingly intense.

Director Saul Boyer deftly navigates the comic and tragic elements of this richly-layered play, eliciting richly-layered performances from both actors. As overconfident, finance workaholic Ingrid (“Grid” for short), Olivia Bernstone helps us to empathise with her character’s brash tactics. Robert Kot is electric as bookworm ice-cream van man Sam, a lovable introvert trying to shield us from his shame and anger inside.

The hotel-room set (Gareth Rowntree) is simple but effective, as is including the audience on three sides, so every audience member feels like a fly on the wall. Shows of this quality are very rare on the fringe, and this play deserves a bigger space and a longer run.

Rating: ★★★★★

Playing at the Hope Theatre, 22–26 October 2024.