Going into A Stitch in Time, I was a bit concerned about how much of the humour I would actually understand, not being a physics student myself. But upon entering the theatrette, I was handed a “crash course [in] physics”, provided by the thoughtful playwright, Daljeet Singh. A small touch, but it makes a big difference.

Held in a stylised, licensed venue (steampunk meets art deco meets graffitied alley), the play opens with the main character Adam attempting to write his physics essay. Enter Time – the self-assured and emphatic wife of Space. Deciding to interfere and help Adam out, she tears a hole in the fabric of reality, letting loose the nine components of reality into the bodies of Adam’s friends, and then leaves Adam to put everything back in order.

The characterisation was tight, and Vanessa Elliott held a commanding presence as Time. I kept searching for evidence of the replaced cast member, who left the production just weeks before opening night, but the integration of the new actor was seamless.

At times I felt that the acting fell slightly into stereotype as the nerd humour was, by necessity, aimed at a level where the average person could appreciate the joke. But I think that the majority of audiences will be thankful for that inclusion, and there was still enough in-humour to satisfy the hardcore. The audience approved, all but cackling at the characters’ regular quips and puns, which weren’t just funny, but clever, with Relativity’s sleazy cracking onto Light in his attempts to catch up to her speed, and the characters’ “Wi fives” (where the hands don’t meet). There was also a highly inventive use of shadow puppetry.

I’d like to see what the company could do with sixty minutes instead of thirty as the plot did leave me wanting more. The family-style bickering of the components of the universe ran off a clever script, and it would have been good to see more of that interaction, as well as with the modern world.

But overall, A Stitch in Time not only made you laugh, but made you feel smarter for doing it.