EdFringe Review: A History of Paper by Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams

Set at the turn of the millennium, and before the dawn of the paperless office, playwright Oliver Emanuel and composer Gareth William’s ‘A History of Paper’ is a romance couched in postcards, plane tickets, paper lanterns, and origami roses.

Based upon Emanuel’s 2016 radio play of the same name, this ‘history of paper’ tells of one fateful meeting and the love, life, and loss which follows. Swept along on William’s sweetly melodic score, Emma Mullen and Christopher Jordan-Marshall bring Emanuel’s nuanced, but not-so-odd couple to life (Journalist and would-be writer respectively).

The musical builds on the radio play’s blend of monologue and drama. It’s a tricky proposition for theatre, risking an imbalance between telling and showing, but Mullen and Jordan-Marshall have the charisma required to make it work. It also speaks to meticulous direction from Andrew Panto.

They are joined on stage by pianist, Gavin Whitworth, who occupies a liminal space between performer and audience. His sensitive accompaniment lubricates the songs which mark the play’s pivotal moments. The motif ‘What use is paper?’ follows the story from beginning to end, only finding an answer in the final scenes.

Big numbers include the soaring romantic duet ‘Is it Now?’, and the joyous ‘Confetti Everywhere’. Mullen delivers a particularly stylish, ‘The End of the World’s not the End of the World if you’re there”.

Indeed there’s fun throughout, a rich vein of domestic comedy stemming from the bespoke banter, and emotional shorthand that long-term couples create. It’s a happy history until it (very dramatically) isn’t. The aftermath aims for the profound, but is perhaps, just a little too tidily rounded out. Similarly, the couple’s halcyon days are possibly just a little too halcyon. If ‘A History of Paper’ is to have a life after August, a little martial discord might help our heroes more universally relatable.

However, ‘A History of Paper’ distinguishes itself further with clever bookends to each chapter. Brief asides turn actors into documentarists with tales of the actual history of paper, its past and possible future. Our couples’ adventure is thus made part of a wider, sweeping river of paper.

Ultimately though, ‘A History of Paper’ is an epic musical tale of everyday romance. There’s a particular poignancy to ‘A History of Paper’ opening after Oliver’s untimely death in December of last year. The quality of this production is a fine tribute to a singular talent who is dearly missed.

‘A Histor of Paper is co-produced by Dundee Rep Theatre and the Traverse Theatre.