Imperial Fizz

Touche! A bit like Noel Coward on speed, Brian Parks' thirties-style two-hander is a tour de force of lightning exchanges of exquisitely barbed wit between a couple who fill the silence as they wait for… well, what indeed?

They exist in a comforting bubble of pre-war glamour, quips galore and cocktails all round. “Great minds drink alike!” they exclaim as irony drips from every pore, every word a heat-seeking missile of potential put-down as they parry and thrust verbally – and even physically on occasion when golden memories of their life together turn out not to have been so silver-lined, somewhat muddled like the martinis both shaken and stirred.

Certainly things are not quite what they seem and an air of unease gradually permeates the banter. The smoky jazz and Chopin on the radio is intermittently interrupted by white noise and ominous rumblings, and suddenly we wonder about the singe marks on the couple’s evening wear. The tension makes them bicker and let slip truths about their lives and why they are where they are.

As if born to the roles, Issy van Randwyck and David Calvitto keep the humour coming hard and fast with enviably ease. It is a thrill to watch them riff and free associate as if they were actually improvising.

These are sterling performances from a pair of practitioners at the top of their game and yet one still feels they could have been served better by their creative team. Sophie Fletcher’s direction could be crisper while Parks’ script, although clearly firing on all cylinders, needs to provide more character depth in order to make their humanity truly convincing.