Music on a Distant Shore - Ryde Depozitory

From the moment you enter the theatre you are transported to the Scottish Highlands by the superb fiddle playing, echoing one of the play's themes.

The Depozitory provides a cosy and very civilised environment, and I was soon settled with a glass of red to enjoy the show.

And enjoy it I did.

The early scenes were a little slow for me, I have to admit, but they set the scene – we met Elaine, a struggling widow juggling a job she hates and her domestic and maternal responsibilities while yearning for love – and a different job (and boss!)

Once the internet romance starts to blossom, juxtaposed with the grind of the telesales job she clearly isn’t suited to, as her frustrated boss seems to delight in pointing out, the pace picks up and the audience is carried along by the excellent performances.

There are some moments of high comedy, even if one or two of the plot devices are a little predictable, and the four actors make the most of the humour with careful timing and delivery, while the underlying pathos of the characters’ situations come through more and more as the play progresses and elements of the past unfold alongside the current action.

While we immediately see and sympathise with the difficulties faced by Elaine and her son Kevin, who is desperate for some form of connection with his dead father, we could be forgiven if at first sight we think Alma, the ‘happy medium’, and Arthur, Elaine’s boss, have their life organised as they want it.

Without giving away the plot, as the play moves towards its denouement, we discover that those we thought were in control of their own lives are just as unfulfilled as anyone else. And through four extremely sensitive and accomplished performances we are led to an unexpected but fitting conclusion.

Gradually, along with the characters, we learn that although we may think we know what we want in life, sometimes life itself has other ideas.

Music on a Distant Shore is on this evening at Chale Church – if you don’t catch it there, it’s worth crossing to the North Island to see it in Portsmouth on 26 June.