Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You

The New Theatre ***

MOLLY NAYLOR lives her life like it is a film. When she moves to London from Cornwall, she finds her script suddenly transformed from a coming-of-age movie (“country girl moves to the city to seek her fortune”) to an explosive disaster blockbuster when the underground Tube on which she is travelling becomes a target in the 7/7 bombings.

Naylor knows it "wasn't personal, but I take it that way", and Whenever I Get Blown Up. . . is an account of those personal consequences: the end of her relationship; her escape to Wales; and her return to London, finally, a changed woman.

Naylor writes with a poet’s ear for rhythm and metaphor, and delivers with a stand-up’s comic timing, but the result is never transformative.

Performing as herself, she begins with a charismatic improvised introduction that slowly deepens into a more theatrical exploration, but despite the first-person intimacy, the result is a little underwhelming.

Runs until Saturday