Peapod Productions is barely a year old, but on this evidence the company is already shaping up to be one to watch for cute and creative entertainment.
Playwright Alistair Rutherford has a background in radio drama, but Passing Through isn't the kind of static, dialogue-heavy affair that so often results in the transition from airwaves to stage. This much is clear from the opening seconds, when the first audience member is recruited for a very effective piece of scene-setting interaction.
In a nutshell – or peapod – this is a rom-com nudging together a down-on-his-luck magician (is there any other kind?) and a fellow romantic with an expensive hairdo who's been overtaken by cynicism after one let-down too many.
Director Andy Corelli sprinkles just enough sleight-of-hand magic and endearing daftness into the proceedings to keep things lively, although the pace does drop two-thirds of the way in when actress Anna Guthrie does almost too good a job of conveying boredom and frustration on a disastrous date.
The course of true love runs a little too smooth for Philip Kingscott's wide-eyed conjurer, and the proceedings tip into cheesy territory a few times, but this is perhaps only apparent because of the impeccable standard of romantic comedies and interactive romps Scotland has been producing in recent years, from DC Jackson's My Romantic History to David Greig's Midsummer and whisky-soaked Prudencia Hart.
For an undemanding 60 minutes that's sure to put a smile on the face of all but the hardest-hearted, this is well worth catching when it passes through the Tron Theatre in Glasgow next week.
HHH
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