Writer: Anna Jordan
Director: Scott Graham
Frantic Assembly are a theatre company known for movement. Their work tells stories in the way of contemporary theatre, but the audience are never going to be presented with a mere straight play. Movement for Frantic Assembly is practically a character in its own right. Their 2025 presentation Lost Atoms is no exception to the rule.
Lost Atoms introduces us to Jess (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) and Robbie (Joe Layton), a couple telling the story of their relationship over an indeterminate time, each from their own perspective, often interrupting to correct the others memory, a conceit that adds a level of unreliability to every scene. It takes in the dizzying highs of the honeymoon period and intimate connection, as well as the often brutal reality of trying to make love last in the more mundane every day, especially when you might not be all that well suited in the first place. The telling is heart wrenchingly relatable, from those small every day moments, through the big problems, to the outsized ethereality of simply trying to represent how love feels.
In these ethereal moments, Andrzej Goulding’s set combined with Simisola Majekudunmi’s fabulous lighting design becomes yet another character. The walls of probably over a hundred drawers and cabinets slide in and out, constructing new locations, giving access to essential props and costume, providing literal steps and climbing structures for the actors to interact with. Robinson and Layton are fearless in their movements here, having clearly drilled each one to a point that walking up a vertical staircase of ad hoc steps looks as natural and effortless as a stroll up a small incline. It seems like endless combinations are possible for such a simple idea, and it works fabulously to keep the action moving. The lighting pulses like a nightclub, adding washes of colour to enhance each scene. The effect of snapping the character into what the brain reads as black and white every time they interrupt from the future is especially striking.
Anna Jordan’s script is fresh and funny, and the love story it tells is modern and accessible. From the initial meeting over a shared internet hotspot and the follow up meet cute, through first introductions with the parents, sex, dates, domesticity, and more serious topics including sex, pregnancy loss, and grief, Jordan has created a very real feeling love story. Robinson and Layton as Jess and Robbie have a wonderful chemistry, and it is easy for the audience to see themselves in both characters. Their physical representations of the emotional states of each memory are beautiful to see, and intensely evocative, even for audience members perhaps less experienced in following movement based physical theatre. This is the Frantic Assembly style at its strongest. However, the script does tend to rely heavily on tropes which can break the immersion a little. Jess is a classic Manic Pixie Dream Girl, an artist railing against her loving parents while painting fairy tales, and Robbie is the stereotypical man who refuses to cope with his emotions and ultimately appears quite useless and self-centred as a partner, taking centre stage even on scenes which should focus on Jess. The pregnancy loss section is especially egregious for this – we see a lot of Robbie’s feelings and reactions acted out in full, whereas we only hear reports of Jess’. Or is that the unreliable narrators influencing the story? Or a comment on the expected roles of gender in relationships? While the ambiguity makes the show incredible to analyse for a GCSE or A Level essay (as it apparently is being at this performance, based on the number of school groups in the audience), it would be nice to see some twists on these tropes either way.
Lost Atoms is overall highly recommended viewing. The script has a lot to say about the nature of love, memory and connection, and the visual treat of the performance is worth the ticket price alone. The show is imaginative and unflinching, grounded and fantastical, fragile and strong in equal measures. Just like love really.
Runs until 11th October 2025
