Theatre

‘I’m a wet pup going home with my tail between my legs,’ prim May tells Raleigh when the discharged serviceman seats himself beside her on a long-haul train journey in 1940. Jokey Raleigh fancies himself as a writer; moralistic May wants to be a missionary – both have journeys to make in more than just the geographical sense. We witness two more encounters between the pair; on each occasion one of them is about to take a train, with potentially life-changing consequences. Will they overcome their obvious differences in order to act upon their equally obvious mutual attraction?

Arlene Hutton’s folksy jawfest was a big hit on the Edinburgh fringe in 1999. It’s not hard to understand why: nostalgically evoking somewhere sheltered from the uncertainties of a harsh and changing world, it’s a nice place to spend an hour or so. Given that it’s set at the time of the apogee of the railway-loving screwball comedy genre, this two-hander definitely misses a trick or two nonetheless. The play sketches a possible screwball arc for itself when Raleigh reveals that two great writers (F Scott Fitzgerald and Nathanael West) are on the train with them – both in their coffins. Unfortunately this arresting image is quickly forgotten, and the incipient lovers limit themselves to gentle romantic banter.

But attractive performances from Chris Starkie and Heather Saunders, and nicely paced direction from Katie Henry, make this a satisfying trip back to a simpler, more innocent time.