No Future in Eternity
at Gilded Balloon Theatre (Venue 38), Edinburgh

Tony Gilland

'Clear your clouds immediately and leave your halos at the Pearly gates on the way out!'

These are the stern words of God as he lets go two of his angels due to the falling demand for religion and the lack of a future in eternity. With the job situation looking equally grim when Asphael and Zorephonithuel visit hell, the two angels set off to try their luck on Earth with us mortals. No Future in Eternity is an amusing comic play which tracks the fortunes of two angels as they get to grips with the realities of everyday life.

Guided by two random books picked up in a shop in Kings Cross, Asphael with a copy of the biography of the great rock artist Brog Twangthrust and Zorephonithuel rather taken with a pap romantic novel, the two angels set about building their new lives and deciding what sex they want to be. Office Angels snap up the aspiring secretary Zorephonithuel while Asphael perfects the art of bumming around cafes until s/he (Asphael is reluctant to choose which sex to be on Earth) finds a band and lands her first gig.

Evenings back at the flat, spent discussing the peculiarities of human life with their flatmate Phil, a cosmologist, and their concerned landlady Trish, who takes pity on 'political refugees', provide Cotterill and Harkness with heaps of material for non-stop witty gags, which kept the audience tittering. Neatly woven into the script is a good dose of the science of cosmology - fundamental forces, the theory of everything, big bang, solar neutrinos, and much more.

Phil's somewhat nerdy attempts to engage the angels interest in a subject they feel they know far more about than him (but decide this is best kept to themselves) provides plenty more humorous material and induces your interest in this scientific subject matter. On occasion the introduction of science into the play seems a bit forced, but on the whole it works well. While cosmological analogies hindered Phil's attempt to express his growing love for Zorephonithuel it did at least provide him with an original chat-up line - 'you curved my universe.' A fun comedy with serious intent - highly recommended.