Ellie is young and restless, bearing up under the burden of unsympathetic parents and a sweet but dopey boyfriend in a small, dead-end seaside town in the 1980s. Returning home after a mysterious absence of several months, Ellie finds nothing has changed and she is just expected to slot straight back into her old life and a job stacking shelves. Her buttoned-up parents are unresponsive (Dad only seems interested in watching Countdown), boyfriend Darren wants them to get back together and this time for keeps, and best friend Zoe, angered by Ellie's unexplained disappearance, is making plans of her own for escape.
Perhaps Ellie will be able to escape her fate if she listens to a mysterious figure who keeps popping up in various guises (doctor, fairground stall owner) to offer advice. This is Nimer Rashed's debut play, commission by Theatre 503, which has made its name producing plays that have been passed over by other theatres.
But while the piece has its moments of energy, particularly in the scenes between Ellie and Darren and Ellie and Zoe, which ring true as a bell, this tale of growing up and finding out who you are never finds its shape or real focus. Eventually, it simply spirals off into a surreal and slightly bizarre dead end involving Carol Vorderman, Countdown, death and grief. Rather than helping to make things clear, the shifting time warp effect only adds to the confusion.
Jessica Clark is appealing as Ellie, but the writing is never pungent enough to really make you care whether she finds happiness or not.
