The Sum of It All… @ Zoo Roxy

Anomic take the hi-tech approach to physical theatre in The Sum Of It All…, a show that follows the sad life of timid Stanley. It’s a story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl - but opening and closing on the woeful ghosts of the tale, as they wait in the departure rooms to final oblivion.

The stage set of video screens and projections is terrific, and there is a lot of fun trickery with the actors playing on the border line between their physical presence and the fluid screen set and projections.

The crappiness of Stanley’s life is wittily outlined using words, dance and visual effects, followed by charming dance sequences as things bloom into happiness with the courtship of Nadia.

But the melancholy note returns soon enough, as misunderstanding causes separation. There’s a long sequence of Stanley’s hallucinatory depression and agoraphobia, leading to – despite it being much signposted - a visually shocking suicide.

The show has dazzling ingenuity, fun dance routine and actors of charm. But the script descends into too much introspective speechifying, especially given the unsurprising ending.

This production is a great example of new directions for physical theatre, sadly hampered by the flabby script.