Extended from an hour to 90 minutes it boasts a bona fide star performance by Maimuna Memon who subsequently won a best supporting actor Olivier for War and Peace musical Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet.
Here she writes and performs – both the indie-folk songs and the deeply personal preamble to each number.
Through these intros she unfolds the story of singer-songwriter Ria arriving in bustling Camden Town from Lancashire to try her luck on the music scene.
She meets a brilliant but damaged lover in a pub and her attempts to save him intertwine with the personal history of why she headed south in the first place.
There are welcome flashes of wry humour – at the ruinous prices of north London flats and the unfriendliness of the noisy city.
And the piece is bookended with two hopeful songs – one as Ria is on her way, and the other as she contemplates a successful future armed with hard-won self-knowledge.
In between, the numbers are mournful and occasionally angry as Memon unpacks absent fathers, a full blown mental health crisis, and co-dependent relationships.
It’s wise, witty tale of resilience that’s utterly heartfelt about the way early trauma can lead to self-sabotage and tragedy.
Memon’s voice is gorgeous but while there are some exchanges with an unseen therapist, and a tape recorder it’s just her with a three-strong band sharing guitar, keyboard and singing duties.
The format of Memon reaching to swap her guitars and sing another down-tempo folk ballad does feel somewhat stretched mid-show.
At one point she has to head back to Lancashire, but the revealing exchange with her mother is merely reported.
You end up kind of hoping that such a talented writer would spread her wings into dialogue.
