Review: Lost Atoms (Lyric Hammersmith)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

With their most recent productions, an adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and a modern take on Shakespeare’s Othello, having played at the Lyric Hammersmith theatre as part of their UK tours, it seems only right that new play produced as part of Frantic Assembly’s 30th anniversary should also appear at the venue. Keeping the group’s signature infusion of physical theatre into more conventional storytelling, Lost Atoms is at once as daring as it is traditional, as willing to push boundaries as it is to work within them.

The play, written by Anna Jordan, finds Robbie and Jess looking back on their time as a couple, exploring what brought them together and what would ultimately force them apart. Most of the story takes place within these flashbacks, moving through shared experiences in a linear fashion, but periodically there is a reminder of the framing as the pair reckon with what has become of them and the fact that reliving these lofty emotions doesn’t mean being able to truly share them again.

Designed by Andrzej Goulding, the set is an immediate standout long before either character enters the stage. An imposing array of filing cabinets towers over the action, up and down which the actors climb and from within which the characters extract the various props which guide each scene. Once the concept of exploring shared history is established, the set becomes almost a third character, so strong is its presence and so firm its impact. Aiding the visual impact is Simisola Majekodunmi’s lighting, which both frames the cabinets and brightly lights the set from within the drawers, suggesting infinite wonders and, with brief appearances of red lighting, the horrors to be mined from their past romance.

As Artistic Director of Frantic Assembly, it’s perhaps unsurprising how adept Scott Graham is at forming the movement pieces which transition us from moment to moment, and show emotional transitions which words alone may fail to put across. Along with these often-dynamic visuals, including a particularly tender sequence in which the actors crawl over, around, even onto one another to demonstrate many happy nights of peaceful, emotionally intimate sleep, Graham is also adept with more traditional dialogue scenes. Using only two large chairs to shift locales, he brings a particularly strong energy to scenes of conflict, with his blocking and guidance of the actors shaping some powerful, deeply felt moments of argument and long-felt aggravation.

Likewise, Jordan’s script has genuine moments of grand romance and of tender intimacy, but crackles to life when tempers run high. There are points raised around being there for someone emotionally rather than simply present, and around what support is offered versus what it truly needed, and Jordan’s assured script puts these points across astutely without veering into preachiness or leading us too sharply into disdain for either character. Both are flawed, and whether an audience member feels one is more at fault than the other will come down to their own feelings around what has occurred, as Anna Jordan carefully and capably navigates the grey spaces in which such questions are allowed to be openly asked, but determinedly unanswered.

This is not to say that either Anna Jordan’s or Scott Graham’s work is beyond critique. Whoever’s impact it may be, the first dialogue scene feels stilted and far less free-flowing than much of what comes after, while the otherwise beautiful final scene overstays its welcome – by the tiniest bit, but it’s difficult not to acknowledge in the moment that things are drifting that bit too slowly to their conclusion. Likewise, even though it makes for some early visual thrills, I couldn’t help but feel the first moments of physical theatre performed across the towering filing cabinets served more to introduce the movement concept than to create the emotional shifts which would be more deeply felt in later uses. Still, these are minor foibles to raise against a play so strong elsewhere that these small missteps became harder to miss.

Without stopping to count the individual words, I would argue that Lost Atoms gives an even amount of material to each of its stars. While this leaves the characters on even ground and with neither presented as a supporting player to the real lead, one of the duo does pull ahead in terms of performance. That’s not to say that Joe Layton is at all subpar as Robbie – on the contrary, he finds genuine pathos in the role and digs nicely into the material, particularly in the emotionally weighty second act, ensuring that we never lose sight of who Robbie is or the palpable anguish the character goes through. Layton is presented with the task of playing Robbie’s overbearing, slightly judgemental tendencies without making him a source of only eye rolls and irritations, a minefield his nuanced performance does a fine job in manoeuvring through.

In fact, I must commend Layton on keeping the performance’s emotions intact despite the increasing impact of an apparent throat issue on press night. Far from ideal for any performer, he still found ways to work through this new obstacle, delivering a well-rounded acting performance even when reduced in what volume or inflection could be accessed.

However, the stronger performance undoubtedly comes courtesy of Hannah Sinclair Robinson, whose Jess sparkles with a charming energy throughout the couple’s courtship before sinking into agonising lows in the second act. Humorous lines are always given just the right touch of naturalism in Robinson’s delivery, while her emotionally command when tackling Jordan’s heavier themes is startling – her feelings build naturally, as if she is living months of frustration in only seconds, and any venomous remark or harsh outburst feels as if it has been coming for some time. With Jess being the party animal of the pair, Robinson does a fine job in ensuring that we recognise her longing for enjoyment, and that we see her as someone in need of an escape she doesn’t fully understand rather than someone to look down on for her questionable decisions.

Demonstrating that Frantic Assembly are still a force to be reckoned with, and that they remain worthy of their acclaim and academic presence, Lost Atoms shows that the company have as much to offer the theatre 30 years on as they did as a fledgling student group. Working from a largely stellar script from Anna Jordan, and with astute direction by Frantic Assembly’s own Scott Graham, this is not only a welcome return to Hammersmith, but a triumphant continuation of a still-evolving company with a genuinely exciting point of view.

Lost Atoms plays at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until February 28th

For tickets and information visit https://lyric.co.uk/shows/lost-atoms/

Photos by Tristram Kenton