A modern production

"We have reached the epoch of the nanosecond," announced James Gleick in Faster, his slickly witty chronicle of our hyperventilating age.

The book is a miracle of manic research, slipping effortlessly between atomic clocks and basic physiology - or H G Wells and the velocity of human thought - but even the author was surprised when the youthful company Filter created a piece of drama in response to his work.

How do you recreate the requisite theatrical chemistry from a popular science book? In this simultaneously ingenious and charming show, Filter answers by weaving observations on the modern obsession with speed into that age-old theme of the love triangle.

Victoria (Victoria Moseley) is a high-powered lawyer who has dropped out to travel the world. Her return to England precipitates an affair with Ben (Ferdy Roberts), an advertising executive addicted to a caffeine lifestyle and cars that have problems stopping at red lights, who also happens to share a flat with her slower and more dormouse-like ex, Will (Will Adamsdale).

Most interesting is not so much this production's resemblance to a modern day Jules et Jim as its ground-breaking use of sound. When Tim Phillips, Ferdy Roberts and Oliver Dimsdale founded this company, their central tenet was that electronic and live sound-effects should form each scene's core, rather than lurking on the periphery - and to reflect this, two keyboard players and Phillips as a guitarist sit on both sides of the performers, heightening every action, from teethbrushing to falling in love, with an archly witty musical accompaniment.

An earlier version of the show seemed slightly lost in the swirl of technology and speed-fuelled concepts, but this hugely improved production owes much to a strong script by Stephen Brown, which cleverly balances Faster's emotions with its intellectually fleetfooted observations. "I'm never going to read Paradise Lost," screams Victoria in a panic, moments after observing that millions of books are published each decade.

There are occasional blips of immaturity, but Filter's sheer boldness of invention makes it a company to watch. This is a timely piece for a generation with no time to lose.

Faster