by Sarah Cope

Plays which have transferred from the Edinburgh festival to a London venue often flounder when they come to the capital. Perhaps it’s because festival goers have lower standards, and an easy-to-watch, moderately funny play will receive accolades when playing alongside a lot of very amateur plays. My Romantic History falls firmly into this category of plays that once out of Edinburgh, seem decidedly lacklustre.

The play is based on the rather shaky premise that “if you haven’t met someone by the time you graduate you’re going to marry some cunt from your work”, in the words of the character of Thomas. (Interestingly, this quotation is used on the Bush Theatre’s website, though the word “cunt” is replaced with “idiot”).

Thomas sleeps with colleague Amy, after a Friday after-work drinks sessions. Thus commences an extremely gender-stereotyped “romance”, where Thomas tries to wriggle out of the “relationship” and Amy clings on like a limpet. Thomas’ inner thoughts are known the audience because he narrates them to us; Amy’s motivations are a mystery, albeit a not very interesting one.

In the second part, Amy gets to narrate, and for a moment I thought the play was about to find its feet. No such luck. We find out about the characters’ past relationships, but the facts just aren’t all that absorbing, nor are the characters remotely likeable.

There are some semi-good jokes and some memorable lines, but a bit more than a drop of wit was needed to breathe life into these predictable characters. Office paraphernalia such as a projector and a whiteboard were used to help tell the story, which was not exactly the most ground-breaking or imaginative of devices.

The audience members on either side of me fell asleep, which I think says all you need to know about this rather disappointing play.

Bush Theatre: booking until November 20