A poignant walk along the borderlands of memory, fantasy, dream, illusion and loss, “The Lonely Sea and the Sky” could equally well be called “Chance Encounter”, or “Broken Dreams”. Phil Tong weaves together many layers of false hopes dashed in this outwardly simple tale of the meeting of two women on the beach. For Christine this is a fleeting return to her childhood home at a time of bereavement for a father she seems not to love. For Julie the visit is more urgent, a baffling mystery, the truth of which unfolds slowly and devastatingly as the play moves forward.

Along the way we encounter not just broken dreams but also broken promises and broken relationships. Rich are counterpoised against poor, old against young, church against chapel, those with a “good” education against those who have to leave to get a job, but who are really the winners or losers here?

The play offers no happy endings. The many layers of lost hope are a challenge for a young and focused company. They create an absorbing stream of consciousness, taking Christine and Julie back and forth in time. They sometimes need to take a deep breath and slow down to do justice to the gravitas of their theme. Mermaids, the glamour of Greta Garbo or simply the hope of a loving home all end up as broken shells, touched with tragedy. Even at the end we are left wondering if these two women have really uncovered the whole of their truth.

Janet Saunders