From the calmly quiet opening, of an old man tapping his finger in time to a clock's beat, to the thoughtful final moments, Translunar Paradise is a mesmerising display of humanity. The players, George Mann and Deborah Pugh, who create the personas of the nameless, wordless man and woman in the story, are revelatory in their ability to instantly transform themselves from wearied elders to the strength of youth in the merest of heartbeats. The production is accompanied throughout by the gently lilting voice and accordion skills of Kim Heron, otherwise expressing a lifetime of beauty and sadness without ever saying a word.
The story is simple yet evocative as we are led through the old man's memories of his beloved wife; their romance, married life and ultimately her death and his resulting despondancy. There is little more than a gentle wheeze from Heron's accordion and the cast are pulled from their aged masks and into the depth of the heartfelt story. The narrative does teeter on the edge of overplaying itself once or twice, but the raw purity of the feelings being evoked through the physical theatre on display is enough to quash any such worries. The touching and gentle manner in which we see a wholly believable love that spans decades and transgresses the spiritual as well as physical planes, is a thing of perfection. See this, and see it again.