A young woman is alone in a small but tidy flat, doing yoga on a pink floor mat. She stops, catches her breath and opens a bottle of wine. As she sips she stares pensively into the middle distance until she is jolted out of her reverie by an unexpected visit from an ex-boyfriend.

The beginning of Ruby, if not exactly original, allows for a million possibilities and plot developments, but unfortunately doesn’t manage to capitalise on any of them. As Verity (played by Hannah-Jane Pawsey) and Ed (played by the writer, Jonathan Stephenson) plough through their past relationship there are flashes of wit and searing emotion, but this is obscured by a lack of direction and dramatic unity.

One noticeable aspect of the play is that it is almost completely devoid of subtext. There are a few linked images and metaphors (mostly revolving around food), but in general the characters’ thoughts and motivations are explicitly stated, which leaves little room for the audience to interpret and engage with the play. This leaves the dialogue feeling superficial, making conversations about curry, tea or the progressing stages of drunkenness feel like pointless chat rather than insights into the characters’ psyches and their relationships.

This could also be why the narrative comes across as flat and inconsequential as we don’t see any wider meaning in it. The premise is intriguing, but it is fundamentally static as we don’t see much development in terms of plot or character. Instead the show is held up by long pauses and pseudo-philosophical soliloquies which at times border on cliché. Similarly, some of the jokes were a bit hackneyed and some of the conversation seemed too self-consciously staged, as if the characters were just mouthpieces for the exploration of heavy, worthy ‘themes’.

There is a narrative bombshell towards the end of the performance, but this too is rather puzzling. It comes too late in the action for it to sink in, and the script doesn’t make much effort to link it with what came before, or to use it to explore the dynamics of the central relationship. It does provide a jolt, but it stands alone.

The central performances are good, even if they sometimes come across as a bit mannered. Stephenson strikes a good balance between a blokey East End geezer and a more sensitive, reflective soul. Pawsey has some excellent moments of angsty turmoil, but her character’s vulnerable side could have been teased out a little more to allow the full range of Verity’s inner life to come into play. All in all, Ruby is a show that ultimately fall short of the high mark it sets itself.

Ruby is playing at The Bread and Roses until September 3.