It starts grimly amusing and ends up just grim. But although Chloe Moss's bedsit-bound tale flirts with different tones, her clear-eyed look at urban isolation suggests she is a young playwright on the way to creating a style all her own.
Peta (Kay Lyon) is a young Liverpudlian living solo in South London. Four strangers end up on her sofabed, while a framed picture of a man (her dead dad or possibly her ex...) looks on. There's Joe, a geezer who picked her up in a pub; Steven, an awkward teacher who talks about his ex; Chantelle, who tells Peta about her abortion; and Marion, her middle-aged neighbour.
But who is Peta? Scene by scene, we find out more about her visitors than we do about her. Yet the cumulative effect colours in this picture of a woman in the waiting room to the rest of her life.
It sprawls at two hours. But Lyon's callowness makes Peta blank enough to keep you wondering. Julie Ann Robinson's production rewards your patience, as do the fine supporting cast. There are some terrific lines, too.
It's the sort of refracted storytelling that keeps this downbeat story firing around your head for days to come.
Until Oct 23, Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush Green W12, Mon to Sat 8pm, £13.50, £9 concs. Tel: 020 7610 4224. Tube: Shepherd's Bush/ Goldhawk Road
How Love Is Spelt
