A conceptual musical about eight people riding the lift at Covent Garden Tube station, this certainly isn’t your usual stage experience.
The shows creators Craig Adams (music and lyrics), Ian Watson (book) and Steven Paling (director) challenge the audience with a conceptual piece that explores human connections in a space where we’re forced into close proximity with people we don’t know.
At the centre is a cute, scruffy busker (George Maguire) who has just had a painful breakup. As he rides the lift for less than a minute he imagines relationships between the other seven people, who take on a variety of roles over nearly 90 minutes.
There’s a teacher (Julie Atherton) who, to get over her ex-girlfriend, visits a lap-dancing club and meets a sexy pole-dancer (Cynthia Erivo). She’s the confidant of a closeted young ballet dancer (Jonny Fines) who cruises London’s gay saunas for anonymous sex.
In a web chatroom he also pretends to be a girl to flirt with a straight businessman (Luke Kempner), who in turn seems oblivious to the crush his secretary (Nikki Davis-Jones) has on him. There are also two American tourists (Robbie Towns and Ellie Kirk) in the lift, and they take on the roles the dancer and businessman create online.
Scenes shift and flow into each other cleverly, accompanied by a storming Rent-style rock score that gives each cast member a chance to shine. The actors find resonance in a variety of moments, with scenes that are startlingly sexy and darkly emotional.
But there isn’t an actual plot here: this is a series of scenes that evoke feelings but never draw us in. We can see ourselves in each scenario, and the technical quality of the staging is impressive. But it’s a cerebral experience rather than a punch to the gut.
• Soho Theatre, Dean Street, until 24th February
