Laura Wade’s Breathing Corpses follows the disembodied trail of a series of deaths. The play addressed tragic and disturbing themes, but the script was sharp, witty and darkly tongue-in-cheek, adding an unusual and unsettling twist. Whilst there were plenty of shocking and distressing moments which were brought out in full-breadth, the humour was lost, creating an enjoyable but frustratingly humdrum production.

The play opens onto a dingy hotel room, lit with blue flickering lights and ringing with eery sounds. Whilst the couple behind me (clearly embarking on a budding romance) tried to guess what the play was going to be about, I knew it was going to be dark.

The atmosphere appropriately set, the opening scene launches straight to the heart of the unsettling nature of the production, as hotel-maid Amy (played by Isla Cowan) discovers a corpse. She addresses the corpse as a friend, mulling over her somewhat static and stagnant life. The scene had an element of the Faulty-Towers about it, and the irony of the almost tangible and yet impossible comradery between the two was strikingly comic. Cowan was charismatic and entertaining, successfully engaging the audience throughout her 20-minute monologue – an impressive feat. She commanded the space of the stage, providing an energetic opening to the play, but I felt her wistful and earnest characterisation didn’t quite make use of the full potential complexity of the role. The witty one-liners, scattered throughout the script, fell flat and failed to blossom.

The play moved on to an alarming and powerful scene between Kate (Helen Vella-Taylor) and Ben (Josh McClure). They navigated their way through the most shocking moments of the play, providing several points at which the audience were visibly shaken. Both actors individually created defined and believable characters, but together their chemistry felt inappropriately awkward, and this seeped into their command of the explosions of tension in the scene. One moment they’d erupt into violence and rage, the next they’d become stilted and hesitant. This detracted from the potency of their individual performances. I wanted to see their passion and fury, poured so successfully into their characters, directed more believably at each other.

The highlight of the production were the scenes between Marcus Martin and Laura Pujos, portraying Jim and Elaine, a middle-aged couple struggling to cope with empty-nest syndrome and Jim’s depression. Pujos gave the stand-out performance of the night. She won the audience over with her wry humour and sharp, complex characterisation; she had us chuckling one moment, and then evoked our sympathy the next. Martin’s more subtle performance was a perfect contrast. It would have been nice to see more humour reflected in his performance, but his character and the relationship between Jim and Elaine felt sweet and moving.

This was a fluid and thoughtful production. The scenes flowed into each other, and the set was impressively transformed in each scene, taking us smoothly on a journey though difficult and potent themes. However, it was too smooth, too safe – it would have been interesting to see more risks being taken, and more moments of comedy. It made for an entertaining evening, but perhaps not a memorable one.