Theatre Company: The Traverse Theatre Company
Writers: David Greig and Gordon McIntyre
Director: David Greig
Cast: Cora Bissett, Matthew Pidgeon
Location: Drama Theatre Theatre (Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia)

Synopsis (from the flyer):

It’s midsummer in Edinburgh. And, of course, it’s raining.
Helena, a divorce lawyer, and Bob, a petty criminal, strangers until only a few hours ago, share a drunken but surprisingly enjoyable one night stand. Through the hangover haze they make the wildly impulsive decision to spend the 25 grand of hot cash that Bob is en route to bank for a low-level gangster.
So begins the legendary lost weekend: a joyous 24-hour spending spree that sends Bob and Helena spinning through the soggy city.
A hit at the 2009 Edinburg Festival, this rough and tumble romantic comedy is an ocean away from the glittering Hollywood rom-coms that have skewed Helena’s ideas about love. Peppered with songs written by Gordon McIntyre of indie folk band Ballboy, this quirky production features a wonderfully wry soundtrack.

My Thoughts:

This was … almost … perfect theatre.
The story, which was insightful, funny and heartwarming, was told by actors who confidently switched between being a narrator, playing a character and performing one of the songs. They worked really well together and worked the audience just as well - conspiratorially breaking the 4th wall regularly. It was obvious how comfortable they were with the material and with each other which made it a pleasure to watch.
The writers included a number of astute observations of life and relationships which rang particularly true and added to the enjoyment.
There was just one thing that prevented this from being ‘perfect’ for me and that was the length of the show. It seemed to me that it was probably about 20-30 minutes too long. There were a few scenes that, while funny, were not critical to the story and should probably have been dropped. Bob’s interaction with his subconscious - while amusing - was a good example of this.
Overall it was perfectly and wonderfully delightful.