Brave to stage a play more famed for the film it became (Brief Encounter), director Georgie Paget works with a further difficulty, in the shape of a young cast playing an affair.  An audience watching the play and expecting Rachmaninov backed angst would soon find the staged version a more open, lighter drama than perhaps expected.

Firstly, the logistics of staging.  The action takes place exclusively in the railway tea room and makes good use of the set, with two stories on one stage, connected, but separated physically.  Paget's direction of the timetable-crossed lovers creates an intimate feeling between audience and couple - Laura directs a monologue to the audience, as well as to Alex; Alex turns his back on the audience when he 'can't look' at Laura.  Freyja Cox Jensen and Rob Honeywood come into their own as the relationship begins to end.  You can't help, however, but feel they spend the first half of the play itching for this scene.  The emotional build up is almost immediate and is a little overplayed for the understated intensity of the script.

The stage play Still Life  sees Myrtle and Albert (capably played by Emma Jenkinson and Rob Hayward) take on half of the action, with the result that Laura and Alec almost becoming a rather duller subplot.  It is certainly Hayward's Albert that steals the show with his cheek and charm. Lucy Underwood's appearance as the meddling Dolly also deserves a mention.

Overall, this is a well-played, well-directed production that firmly makes the case for seeing the play as a very different creature from the film!