Shirley Henderson and Alan Cumming star in the mainstage premiere of A History of Paper at Pitlochry Festival theatre, a musical love story by the late playwright Oliver Emanuel and composer Gareth Williams. Originally a 2016 BBC radio drama before being adapted into a small-scale musical two years ago, the show tells an everyday tenement romance through paper ephemera such as postcards, origami gifts and restaurant receipts, with both stars bringing restraint and subtlety to the production despite their star power.

Directed by Dundee Rep's Andrew Panton, the pair play neighbours whose relationship shifts from irritable to flirtatious, with Cumming's enthusiasm contrasting Henderson's more unpredictable, rhythmically inventive performance in the musical numbers. The set doubles as a rugged Fife coastline and Ground Zero, since the play also draws on the paper that fell from the twin towers on 9/11 — a device the reviewer finds somewhat manipulative, though the production otherwise remains a touching, well-judged chamber piece. It runs at Pitlochry Festival theatre until 12 September, then transfers to Dundee Rep from 16 to 19 September.