Lost Atoms- The Lowry, Salford

Writer: Anna Jordan

Director: Scott Graham

Memory, being subjective, is not always reliable. Anna Jordan’s Lost Atoms is a searching yet highly moving demonstration of the emotional impact of two people recalling the same events in different ways.

Robbie (Joe Layton) and Jess (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) meet and, somewhat reluctantly, look back over key moments in their now-expired relationship. There are minor disagreements over details such as where certain meetings took place or when revelations were made, but, the main issue is whether the relationship was strained because of how each of them responded to a traumatic event, and, if it is too late to make amends.

Anna Jordan’s script gives the impression of snapshots taken during the relationship. The tone is sharp but fond; there is no mistaking the author’s affection for the characters as they cringe in mortification recalling their past gauche behaviour. There is a wonderful example of the comedy of embarrassment as Jess describes her passive-aggressive relationship with her mother and Robbie tries to act as a kind of umpire between the squabbling pair.

There is, however, a growing apprehension, a reluctance to address certain issues. Jess is researching how gruesome classic fairy tales are sanitised and a particular feature of Lost Atoms is the very human tendency to remember events in a way favourable to ourselves. Robbie recalls nobly supporting Jess through a harrowing incident while Jess reminds him he did so through a closed door thus allowing himself the luxury of dodging the full grisly trauma.

Director Scott Graham employs a variety of imaginative story-telling techniques which move the play from drama to physical theatre. As memory tends to exaggerate events the tone is larger-than-life with the couple reminiscing in a kind of limbo in which scenes can be paused to allow argument over fine details such as whether they ate in a kebab shop or a greasy spoon café. The storytelling is not limited to verbal communication, when words fail the characters resort to slow-moving acrobatic dance clambering over the stage and each other in search of answers.

The differing personalities of the characters are also communicated in a physical manner via the body language of the actors.  Joe Layton’s hunched over, timid posture makes apparent Robbie’s insecure, defensive nature while Hannah Sinclair Robinson shows Jess to be far more outgoing and expansive lolling around the furniture completely relaxed. There is a sense both characters are, in isolation, incomplete and require a partner to be emotionally fulfilled.

Andrzej Goulding’s set makes a vital contribution to the storytelling. In Lost Atoms memories are regarded as the building blocks of a relationship and are contained in boxes or left on shelves for possible reference at a later stage. The central feature of Goulding’s set is, therefore, a massive filing cabinet which occupies the whole of the rear stage. Simple props, like photographs and symbolically glowing lightbulbs, can be recovered from the cabinet but the drawers also serve as stepladders upon which the cast can climb acrobatically as they sift through recollections. A doorway rises on a hinge to serve as a bed or a platform. Most impressively the use of a safety harness allows the cast to pose in such a way as to permit the audience a bird’s-eye view, observing a confrontation between the lovers as if looking down on them from above.

Whilst visually inventive Lost Atoms engages also the emotions; Jess and Robbie are not so much tragically flawed characters as damaged and suffering people. Although rueful resignation seems inevitable they are so appealing one cannot but hope for reconciliation as the couple speculate about their future.

Runs 11-15 November 2025