The Funky Company presents The Last Five Years.

Create Theatre, West Notts College, Mansfield.

Having seen this play with music (as opposed to a musical) before, I was already in love with the music and the play itself, and to set the tone for this review, I will state that this production is already one of my highlights of the year so far.

Jason Robert Brown is one of the most underrated yet talented writers and composers of the modern theatre, in my opinion, and while his songs are complex, from a singers point of view, they are an absolute joy for a musical theatre fan to listen to.

"The Last 5 Years" tells the story of Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, two Americans who fall in love, marry and then break up but is told from the viewpoint of Jamie and Cathy but from the start of the relationship in Jamie's case and from the break up backwards with Cathy.

Where the two overlap, or come together in the middle, Jamie proposes to Cathy, and is an incredibly tender piece especially with the song "The Next 10 Minutes" being performed as a duet.

Jonah Williams and Anna McAuley are so wonderful on stage as a couple, there's so much chemistry anyone would think that they were a couple off stage! They make you feel empathy for Cathy and her anger and tears with the opening song, "Still Hurting", what an amazing song, and in a strange way, from a bloke's point of view, you do actually feel the regret Jamie shows after his one night stand when the marriage is breaking down in "Nobody Needs To Know".

The soundtrack has always been one of my favourites; the lyrics are funny, sensitive, heartbreaking, fun and the music is simply gorgeous. The six-piece group of musicians, and especially the beauty of those lush strings just sound so good in this acoustically perfect space.

Jonah and Anna - and before I get loads of people messaging me to let me know that this pair ARE a couple away from the stage, I do know - give perfect performances, their vocals are so gorgeous to listen to. They hang in the air like delicate feathers, the fragility of the messages in the majority of these songs are like bubbles that disappear if you touch them, but when the fun elements of the songs are delivered, you just feel such a warmth and can't help but smile looking at this pair.

Eye contact is a really special thing that can sometimes be missed in some plays and musicals, but Jonah and Anna have no issues looking into each other's eyes when they sing to each other. But when they are hurting you can feel that pain, not only in their vocals but in their faces. Both Jonah and Anna also connected with their audience with eye contact, which is something you don't often get, but this smaller, more intimate space is perfect for that connection.

Directed by Katie Funk Clarke, I am so pleased that Katie and Funky Company took on this production because not many companies or Directors would be brave enough to take on this two hander, which is probably why it's so rarely produced, the last time I saw it locally was ten years ago.

No set is needed for a production like this and apart from three raised rostrums the set was bare, making sure that there were no distractions from this beautifully sung through piece of theatre. And thank goodness there was no interval because the flow of the story was sublime. 80 minutes of pure joy.

Musical Director is Jon Orton, so I knew that this side of the production was going to be as perfect as the performance of the two stars, and I was not wrong.

Produced by Cat Orton.

This musical gets performed so rarely that you should not miss the opportunity to see what is a beautifully written piece of theatre, performed beautifully by two insanely talented performers like Jonah and Anna.

"The Last 5 Years" is at Create Theatre, West Notts College in Mansfield until Saturday 20 April.