Lost Girls/At Bus Stops ****

This is a love story,” Jess and Iona tell us. Well, it’s probably two love stories, in truth.

Iona (Leyla Aycan) and Jess (Catriona Faint) met at an Edinburgh bus stop during the Fringe. They continued to run into each other in queues and at a box office where Iona was working, and became friends. They reconnect every August at the Edinburgh Fringe and revel in its chaotic and often frantic environment.

They recount how they go to bars, clubs, random Fringe shows – all set against the backdrop of late-night chips, fights, spires, hills, crowds, queues and drinking. Their friendship seems assured. Jess is spiky, visceral, sharp of tongue. Iona is more measured, perhaps a little introspective. Their different personalities give rise to a harmonious yin–yang balance, their chemistry palpable as Jess struts and Iona dabs. The queer sexual attraction is obvious – so why are they not together romantically? What’s holding them back?

Their hedonistic adventures at the Fringe are only part of the story. Jess and Iona are recreating these August moments in a theatre environment, interspersed with real-time dialogue. Róisín Sheridan-Bryson’s fragmented, time-lapse writing places the audience inside the headspace of our protagonists. Their hopes, fears and desires are intimately conveyed, resulting in a simultaneously disjointed and fluid narrative.

And yet, if this friendship is to adopt a romantic dimension, they are in danger of running out of time, as Iona is contemplating moving on. They are open about their identities, but strangely apprehensive about taking a decisive step – seemingly fearful of creating a fault line in their friendship.

Laila Noble’s direction is excellent, the whirlwind pace contrasting with genuine stillness and tenderness. But what elevates this often blisteringly funny production above much of the Fringe is the wonderful pairing of Faint and Aycan. Faint conveys her extrovert and fragile nature in turn. Aycan’s performance is equally strong but more still, touchingly conveying hurt when Jess kisses a man. Their chemistry is palpable – they simply bounce off each other, charmingly and lovingly.

But can they find a way to finally say what they’ve always wanted to say?

Ah yes – what’s the other love story? Lost Girls / At Bus Stops is also a love letter to the Edinburgh Fringe itself: its joys, disappointments and contradictions unconditionally embraced by Sheridan-Bryson.