I’m very weary of one-person shows. I’ve written before that with only one person taking the stage, the pressure to captivate, engaging and present a piece of theatre on top form is a difficult one – and more often than not, they fail. Waterproof by How It Ended Productions at the Pleasance Dome, however, presents a one-woman show with charming storytelling that I defy you to not fall in love with Laura (Eva Sampson) and her sad story.

Laura works in Aqua Town, Luton’s animal attraction where sharks are the size of tuna fish, and the distinct lack of customers means that they’ll soon be closing the doors. It’s a sad affair, but one revealing the lovable characterisation of Laura as her imagination goes on wild adventures where she falls in love with one of the Aqua Town’s visitors, and is scooped up in his arms and lifted to the rooftops. Waterproof is peppered with charming storytelling and inventive presentations that sees houses popping from the floor, and puppets acting as the people who inhabit Laura’s world.

Teresa Burns does a fine job with the narrative, gliding us through the various quirks of Laura and her surroundings, but also keeping us guessing. Sampson, as the sole performer, works effortlessly, completely bowling me over with a sense of tenderness to the work.

Waterproof is an imaginative and engaging production that proves that you don’t require a large cast and huge budget to create a piece of work that takes its audience on a journey. If this is the beginning of Sampson’s and Burn’s work with How It Ended then I look forward to seeing where they bring their audience next. I’m all for  intimate and inventive storytelling, and Burns clearly has a knack for writing, coupled with a good design and performance by Sampson.