Reverberation review – Matthew López’s romcom is rooted in violence and rejection

London-based American writer Matthew López is best-known for two works centring on gay male experience. His prize-winning, seven-hour drama The Inheritance reworked EM Forster’s novel Howards End into an examination of the lives of gay men in New York post-Aids, and opened to acclaim in London in 2018. In 2023 López co-wrote and directed Red, White & Royal Blue , the film of Casey McQuiston’s novel of the same name about a relationship between the sons of a US president and a British royal.

Something of both works comes across in Reverberation , López’s 2015 play, receiving its European premiere in Bristol. A meet-cute, romcom brightness of tone bubbles from a situation rooted in the darkness of remembered traumas of violence and rejection, as three lonely characters struggle, in Forster’s famous phrase, to “only connect”.

Haunted by memories of a terrible event, 30-year-old illustrator Jonathan is unable to face the world beyond his flat. He summons company via dating apps: 21-year-old Wes, having come, would rather not go. Upstairs, peripatetic Claire, 29, newly arrived from the US, is out each night with a different date.

Ti Green’s set, doll’s house-like, reveals two floors of a block of flats. Diaphanous walls allow us to see stairwell and hall; they also serve as a canvas for Robbie Butler’s lighting effects and Daniel Denton’s video projections. These visuals, coupled with Nicola T Chang’s sound design, suggest characters’ unarticulated interior states. While technically impressive, this filmic device hobbles the pace and highlights a lack of dramatic drive in the writing.

Strongest, in Jack Sain’s polished production, is the acting. As Jonathan, Michael Ahomka-Lindsay displays an easy grace and affecting emotional range. Jack Gibson, in his first professional role, is touchingly convincing as word-tumbling, puppy-like Wes, desperate to love and be loved. Eleanor Tomlinson plays Claire with an exuberant fragility that evokes (without imitating) Liza Minnelli’s Sally Bowles in Cabaret ; a striking stage debut from this respected screen performer.

• Reverberation is at the Bristol Old Vic until 2 November