Inspector Sands - If That's All There Is

If the maudlin humour and languid disenchantment of the Peggy Lee number ‘Is That All There Is?’ appeals to you, then this new piece which riffs an entire tepid kind of romance from Lieber and Stoller’s song should appeal. Inspector Sands’ debut Hysteria was a bleakly funny reflection on first dates. Here, the young company of performers has moved to the next stage.
It opens, co-devisor Ben Lewis tells us, with a couple preparing for a wedding, but all is not as it should be. ‘The guy is totally happy to be a conformist – he’s happy with a conventional life,’ Lewis says. ‘He thinks in power point presentations, the woman worries if anything’s ever going to happen to her again, whether she’s ever going to feel anything again. She starts to be driven a bit insane – she’s marrying someone intent on shutting down the possibility of anything exciting ever happening again. His reaction to her is more organisation and power point presentation, which only makes things worse.’
In part, Lewis explains, it’s not so much a romcom as a social satire. ‘I’m not sure I’d call it a love story. A relationship story? But a lot of it is about organising a wedding, which is a huge task. Weddings are such a massive industry now. It’s an industry that quite consciously puts pressure on you about this being the happiest, best and the most special and important day of your whole life.’
So that’s all there is?
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 23–Sat 27 Mar