Tender Napalm

It's clear an extraordinary amount of work has been put into Tender Napalm from Philip Ridley's meticulous plot to Garry Stewart's choreography. Seeing cast-members Ellen Bailey and Kurt Phelan wrap themselves around Stewart's choreography and Ridley's wordplay is a sublime showcase of technique. Unfortunately, it's also boring beyond belief. The script is predictable and utterly bereft of imagination or sincerity. His attempts to breathe new life into the poetics of romance through shock and awe are undone by his language being not even remotely shocking (or awesome). Pedestrian, reactionary, contrived and dull, it's the sound of a uni student trying to make you feel something, maaan. His plotting is similarly unimaginative. Juxtaposing fantastical detours with emotional monologues and fractured timelines may seem creative – but without a substantial narrative, it's just cheap thrills. Doomed from the outset by such a script, Phelan, Bailey and director David Berthold add insult to injury by failing to generate even a vague hint of a whisper of chemistry in a narrative oscillating exclusively around a relationship. That is the overarching problem of the piece. Tender Napalm is a product of exceptional hard work. Yet, while purporting to be about love, it's an endeavour almost entirely bereft of heart or soul.

Running at La Boite Theatre to Saturday 13 October