No matter how reliant we are on technology, nothing will ever replace the weight of memories imbued into something tangible. A handwritten letter or an origami rose will always trump that quick text message. This new musical, brought initially to radio by playwright Oliver Emanuel and re-adapted into its musical format by Gareth Williams following Emanuel’s death, is the simplest of tales: a love story, one told through the paper which clutters our lives. A History Of Paper folds itself tightly, passed around on a shared journey, becoming increasingly intimate before bursting into a confetti stream of affectionate nostalgia and an appreciation of our time together.

Carrying these words and melody, Emma Mullen and Christopher Jordan-Marshall lead the show, their back and forth echoing our most beloved romantic comedies, though staving off melodrama. While on stage, musical director Gavin Whitworth plays the piano with poise. Occasionally meandering, Emanuel and Williams’ fluttering dialogue is wholly natural, jousting and carrying a blossoming relationship along. Emma Jones adds to the mix with colourful cascades of lighting, purposeful washouts of winter blues or scatterings of Hogmanay fireworks.
The juxtaposition of the closing act’s narrative shifts will shake audiences, either pushing their emotional states into freefall or raising eyebrows in oblique musings which (purposefully) derail the show’s tender successes thus far. The audience is taken down a different path than where we started and A History Of Paper is a stark reminder to value the journey. The memories we collect shape us.
A History Of Paper, Traverse Theatre, until 25 August, times vary.