Lost Atoms is a play which speaks to the highs and lows of modern romance, capturing how love, memory, and identity intertwine. What begins as a classic meet-cute quickly unravels into a rollercoaster of intimacy, conflict, and reflection.
Continuing its UK tour this week at The Lowry in Salford, the play follows Jess (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) and Robbie (Joe Layton) from their chance meeting in the Italian café where Jess works, chronicling the evolution of their relationship.
The pair initially seem an unlikely couple. Jess, a care-free Fine Art graduate with a buzzing social life, contrasts strongly with work-focused, homebody Robbie, whose lust for life only really develops as their relationship grows. Memory and our own construction of the past sit at the heart of the story.
The production’s design mirrors that preoccupation with memory. The set, a towering wall of filing cabinets, overflows with objects both essential and sentimental – clothes, photos, and fragments of their lives. Each drawer seems to contain a moment, or a version of the past.
Though the stage never fully changes, it continually transforms with just two chairs: one moment a café, the next a train station, Robbie’s studio flat, or the characters’ family homes. At the set’s centre, a rising platform becomes everything from a bed to a boat. It’s a clever and fluid metaphor for the shifting nature of their relationship, as our friend Shakespeare would say: “the course of true love never did run smooth.”
Frantic Assembly, led here by director Scott Graham, are well known for their expressive physical theatre, and Lost Atoms stays true to that reputation. The movement sequences are emotionally charged, letting the audience breathe during a brisk and paced production. The play’s timeline is somewhat ambiguous, but we sense that we’re witnessing at least a year or two of their lives unfold in under two hours.
In addition to the snapshots of physical theatre, much of the storytelling is driven through striking tableaus of their relationship. But that growth is continually disrupted by their own memories of the past. Whether it be from a physical object from one of the many shelves, a flash-forward to the end of their relationship, or a moment of conflict, the story is about how they remember their connection, rather than what it truly was.
At its core, Lost Atoms is a play about love, but also about grief, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of both. It begins like a familiar romantic comedy, yet we’re never allowed to believe these two are made for each other. Both continue to battle with their own struggles, and the overarching theme of memory strengthens these complications. Their dynamic challenges the age-old assumption that love can fix what’s broken. As Jess reminds Robbie, she can’t be his saviour.
We’re spoilt for choice with modern romance stories; in fact, writer Anna Jordan’s own credits include hit Netflix show One Day. It’s hard to say if Lost Atoms truly stands out as any different. The tropes are somewhat predictable: Robbie’s struggles with grief, Jess’ less than ideal relationship with her parents. But the play works best as a two-hander, leaving the audience to imagine the unseen family and friends, whilst its unique use of movement and lighting add greater depth. Most importantly, it’s a story that many of us can relate to in one way or another.
Ultimately, the beauty of the show is in its simplicity. We don’t ever quite work out why the pair remember their relationship in the way they do, or why it runs the course it does. In the end, a quieter conclusion might be taken from Lost Atoms, that we should enjoy the present moment more than narratives we’ve constructed about the past. It captures something essential about relationships, their tender possibilities, and inevitable complications.
Lost Atoms continues its UK tour until the end of February 2026.
