Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms at Curve and on tour – review

Lost Atoms is Frantic Assembly’s 30th anniversary co-production with Curve, Mayflower Southampton and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Written by Anna Jordan and directed by Scott Graham, it’s a sublime piece of theatre which explores various stages of a relationship through the medium of movement and memory.

Jess and Robbie’s worlds coincidentally collide. Seemingly opposite, they initially repel and then attract with a magnetism that overwhelms and builds into the kind of love that could last for a moment yet lingers for a lifetime. We are taken on a journey recalling their torrid, turbulent and touching relationship. They each have a different recollection of events, their own take on how they experienced them and why things are the way they are now.

There is a dream-like fluidity to Lost Atoms; the production blurs reality and fantasy. This is owed a lot to the movement of the piece, seemingly defying gravity at times, as it is to its non-linear storytelling. Each time a memory is relived, it’s viewed through a different lens. Time shifts perspectives. As memories are revisited, they shift and slide, like the players across the stage, exposed for all to see. We are shown photographs, hear voice messages and sit in on private conversations. We are party to their shame, pain and blame.

Unable to sit by passively, we see elements of ourselves and our own relationships in Robbie and Jess. It has the remarkable ability to evoke a powerful poignancy. It’s also very funny. A kind of sharp, smart and silly humour that’s based in the awkwardness and reality of budding partnerships – one that’s struggling and one that is wistfully looking back in reflection.

Joe Layton as Robbie and Hannah Sinclair Robinson as Jess are enthralling to watch. Their performance is punctuated with a variety of montages and maneuvers, making the dynamism of this two-hander electric. They fully embody their characters, switching in a moment to capture a changing emotion and shifting from past to present. Physically demanding, with choreographed sequences, lifts and climbing, the strength, athletic flexibility and connection between the performers make it all look effortless.

Andrzej Goulding’s set design is astounding. The back of the stage is adorned with a wall of drawers containing little boxes of delights, memories, and mementos. These are periodically utilised to bring stories to life. The drawers light up, pull and push out to become steps and seats, among many other things. A larger piece of the backdrop extends to become a bed and a cliff edge. It’s such a deceptively simple yet intricately clever design, never drawing focus away from the actors but providing additional levels to this piece.

In addition, there are two chairs that are rhythmically pushed around the stage by the two actors, transforming into various set pieces. Simisola Majekodunmi’s lighting and Carolyn Downing’s sound design magically conjure up various indoor and outdoor settings as each memory unfurls.

Lyrically beautiful with much wit, pathos and a stunning soundscape, Lost Atoms invites us to explore a relationship through the fickle flickers of flashbacks. What the mind forgets, the body does not.