Romantic musical set during an apocalypse? Yes please.

Help! We Are Still Alive, a collaboration from Imogen Palmer (Book & Lyrics) and Tim Gilvin (Music & Lyrics), is a fun, gig-style two-hander, brought to life by director Georgie Rankcom, who encourages the actors to fully utilise the small space of the Seven Dials Playhouse, making the audience pals, who are totally in on the joke, queer or not.

Set in Bristol, sometime after a foggy apocalyptic event, Finn and Jass are coming to terms with being the last two people on earth, sort of. They recreate old movies, make creative tin based dinners and occasionally get pissed and sing the night away. Thankfully, they’re in love and all they need is each other… right?

Jade Johnson as Jass gives off proper Fleabag vibes with her ease of performance in this intimate show. She makes her character’s guilt and conviction relatable even with the unique circumstances. Alongside Elijah Ferreira’s portrayal of Finn as just a dash needy as well as charming, allows you to understand why she might not think the relationship is built to last. Him constantly singing a nonsensical song about a pineapple builds on this.

The music is beautifully performed – these are a talented duo – with a live guitar adding atmosphere to a recorded soundtrack. It was impressive to see Ferreira mostly successfully navigate the small space during choreography with the guitar. There are catchy tunes, full of heart, though it was a little repetitive and far too many pineapples.

The story was hard to be fully invested in as what is explained about how the apocalypse occurred and how our two characters survived was not overly believable. This genre only works if the explanation is either entirely believable or non-existent. We’re asked to believe Finn, as heroic as he is, would know where to find the morgue, would be able to carry his love there and that they’d be able to spend days hidden within one drawer. All while Jass has a broken leg, so bad the bone is sticking out…

Saying that this is a show with a heck of a lot of potential to be a real queer cult musical classic (there aren’t may of those!). Laughs were aplenty (not easy when everyone else is dead) and heart strings are pulled. Go see it – until 15th October.