In Ferdinand Bruckner's The Pains of Youth, Desiree famously says life is all disappointment after the age of 17. New Zealanders Duncan Sarkies and Nic McGowan believe the rot sets in earlier, when you read those children's stories in which everyone lives happily ever after. The pair suggest that for the rest of our lives, we chase an elusive happiness, spurred on by capitalism, which makes us believe that if we could only drink the right drink or own the right car, we would achieve bliss.
It is hardly an original thought. And this mix of film, live soundscape and monologue is old hat, too, harking back to the early work of Laurie Anderson in form, and aping any number of other pieces in its examination of the violet hour when dawn is far away and even the ghosts are lonesome.
Through film of eerie New Zealand buildings, cars' headlights and shadowy figures, the two writers successfully capture the way the smiling brightness of daylight is replaced by something more forlorn as darkness falls. But the laid-back, jam-session format of the piece is fatally lacking in energy, and neither the monologues nor the soundscape is arresting enough to keep your interest.
As performers, Sarkies and McGowan are so introspective that they are hardly there; more damagingly, they hardly seem to care whether we're there, either. Some of the advice proffered - have friends, drink gin and tonic, be happy - is wittily undercut. But the overall effect is of being made to stay up long after your bedtime with a couple of bores.
· Ends tomorrow. Box office: 0845 120 7511.
