From the instant the lights snap up, we’re hooked. Sitting side-by-side in a row, Josh Matthews, Matt Chapman, and Sarah Petersiel look like Marcel Dzama drawings come to life. It gets even better when they start moving and speaking. It’s Claudia’s birthday, as it happens, and so Norman and Jonathon decide to put on a play. Too bad they’re not as gifted as the actors playing them: their shambolic efforts soon have Claudia declaring, “This birthday SUCKS!” How strong is their friendship? You’ll have to find out yourself, but certainly the cast’s rapport is like mortar, cementing this enterprise of clownish physical theatre that’s in the same tradition as commedia dell’arte – or, at times, even The Three Stooges. But with more heart: by the end of the play, we get as clear an encapsulation of friendship as is possible. And something else: watching this show, we’re reminded that for all the rehearsal, the ultimate magic of theatre unfolds in real time. Anything can happen onstage. And when something unexpected does…well, we should want that there will always be good actors like these to catch it.

Five out of five stars.