Kitty is a telephone sex worker. Jimmy is a regular client (when they speak, he calls himself Hector, having watched the film Troy shortly before his first call). They encounter one another in the flesh at Jimmy’s place of work (he is the human element in a drive-through doughnut establishment). Is this an accident, or does Kitty (her real name, she was too naive when she started the job to adopt an alias) want to put a face to this particular customer? Jimmy always finishes the masturbatory element of their telephone exchange within the first three minutes, leaving the remaining six minutes for conversation – extra charges kick in after nine minutes. It is only when he has taken her on a date (to a cafe where everything, no matter what, costs 50p – they live in Newport) that Jimmy recognises her.
Alan Harris’s 2015 Bruntwood prize-winning play comes across as a slightly overlong short story with magic-realist elements (such as Jimmy’s conviction that he is becoming invisible) that would work better on radio. On stage it feels unformed. In spite of the very good best efforts of a multitalented team, led by director Liz Stevenson, it is neither drama nor storytelling theatre. In fact, a full-on production highlights writing weaknesses; a workshop presentation might have opened up ways to overcome them in a revised version.
With fine timing, tone and presence, Rhodri Meilir and Alexandria Riley deliver narrative directly to the audience and play the “will-they-won’t-they?” couple as well as all the other characters. These include Jimmy’s mum (he lives at home, aged 34), Kitty’s landlord, the woman down the job centre (Jimmy having been replaced at work by a coin bin) and Mallary, the daughter Jimmy hasn’t seen for four years. The actors bring human warmth to an ersatz story that overly sweetens dark realities with fey whimsy.
• At the Royal Exchange, Manchester, until 13 May, Sherman theatre, Cardiff, 16-27 May, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, 1-24 June
