There’s an ironic moment during Back Here! Theatre’s production of Fairytales and Fire in which two characters talk about clichés – ironic because they seem unaware of quite how many clichés underpin their speech. The production itself is far from rom-com, being simplistic in style and enjoyable in aesthetic with distinct theatricality; and yet, during the first half of the production, I couldn’t quite shake the lingering feeling that several lines could have been copied and pasted from any typical British romance film.

But then along comes the second half, which slyly shows us that the tone and minor themes of the first half – little comments, pieces of expositional information which, only half an hour ago, seemed unnecessary – are actually landmines dotted about inside the script, ready to play their part when we return from the interval. Playwright Craig Henry has quite neatly crafted a script full of absolute gems of comedy, but also prevents us from suspecting the turn the play will take. The result is a production that is entertaining and relatable, exploring themes of loneliness and happiness, but unafraid to skilfully take us into more intense emotional moments.

Fairytales and Fire charts the relationship of misfit James (Charlie G Hawkins) and Elizabeth (Victoria Fox), which is kick-started by an unusual encounter at a bus stop. In between the threads of the rise and fall of their romance, Elizabeth’s friend Clara (Laura Frances-Morgan) and ex Lester (Hamish Colville) weave in and out, until by the end all four characters have been used to explore the way loneliness effects us and the extent to which happiness is elusive.

The characters are well-observed and deeply drawn. Fox gives a confident central performance as Elizabeth, contrasting with Hawkins’s colourful portrayal of the endearingly bizarre James. Frances-Morgan is given some cracking lines by Henry, and uses her humour to capture us as an audience, especially in a great piece of audience interaction centred around strange chat-up lines. The actors capitalise on Henry’s use of idiolect to create very recognisable characters – Colville does this in particular with Lester, cut clearly from public-school cloth and yet more than just a stereotype.

The set, lighting and sound of the production are fairly basic, perhaps to keep the focus on the writing and acting. That being said, the play opens with the use of two glowing rings on the floor in the dark, enforcing from the start Henry’s theme of loneliness. The opening scene houses poetic language that shows us Henry is a talented writer when he does away with predictable speech. Yet although it’s clear that much of this is a ruse, and the second half ties together the thematic undercurrents of the play very well, there are implausible plot developments and those inescapable cliché lines – which, luckily, the talented cast deal with well enough to reduce their awkwardness.

At its most rudimentary level, the events after the interval allow the secondary characters to be developed further and for the two fairly distinct plotlines to become intertwined. But at its most complex, it drags everything we thought we knew about the first half into darker, more intense territory.  Henry isn’t using the cleverest trick in the book, but it’s certainly intelligent writing – and writing that is, as a result of the realism of the speech, accessible too. I was wrong to be as cynical as I was about Fairytales and Fire; it’s a well-formed piece that subtly captures our interest with its supposedly quirky Love Actually-esque love story, while all along sowing the seeds for a final punch that we barely realise is coming.

Fairytales and Fire is playing at the Old Red Lion Theatre until 2 August. For more information see the Old Red Lion Theatre website.