Physical Media **

Set in a struggling CD and DVD shop on a London high street, Physical Media follows proprietor Tony (Alex Machell), who obsessively curates the shop’s soundtrack largely for his own benefit, given the near-total absence of customers.

The easy familiarity with which postman Gary (Paul Richards) rifles through unpaid bills and recommends discarding final demands immediately signals the shop’s precarious financial state, a point reinforced by the persistent calls from Tony’s landlord.

A customer.

An American woman, Amelia (Nicole Horst) working for a global tech company, has arrived in London to attend an interview. She comes into the quirky shop after her long journey seeking coffee and is drawn to the idiosyncratic nature of both shop and shopkeeper. There is the unlikeliest of sparks between them -recognition of a kindred spirit? Friendship? Romance? Tony the ADHD music and sitcom obsessive and Amelia, denizen of the tech world, seem an improbable alliance.

The interactions remain awkward. “You’re a woman” he observes. “I didn’t know men like you existed” she notes; “In a good way?” he asks; met with the ambiguous “In a…way”. They find themselves (over)sharing personal information and Amelia is drawn to Tony’s outdated perspective on the modern world. So much so, that she declines the job offer at a meeting later that day and resigns.

Tony’s stock is repossessed by the landlord’s bailiff, but as the production comes to its finale, the pair sit to watch British television together and seem at ease with each other.

Physical Media, of course, leans heavily into the premise of the film Notting Hill. But while the anchor of the production is the relationship that is developing between the protagonists, there are themes beneath the surface: loneliness, hurt and vulnerability.

The performances are all good, especially Machell’s awkwardness.

The script, however, requires thorough revision, as the audience are asked to ignore plotline holes just too frequently. A commercial landlord wouldn’t be phoning Tony every 10 minutes and definitely would not be sending a bailiff in a balaclava, as surreal a moment as that was. Amelia’s intention is to buy a coffee – so it’s unclear why, in central London, she continues to fail to do so. It’s implausible that this is the last CD shop in London, just as Tony’s commercial ineptitude strains belief.

There seems to be some self-awareness of these – and other – holes, as Tony breaks the fourth wall to muse “wasn’t that just Gary in a balaclava?”. The criticisms aside, this is a charming and funny production, full of decent and likeable performances. A better version is waiting to break out.