Before Covid, and in contrast to the two thoughtful shows ruminating on gender that made her name, Sarah Keyworth had been planning a silly, purely funny comedy set. This is not that set, for reasons that become apparent. Instead, Lost Boy finds the 29-year-old embarking on a new relationship, receiving unsatisfactory therapy – and processing a significant personal loss. It is a testament to the quality of her comedy that Keyworth fashions this into an uproarious hour – even if it leaves us with little more than the laughs, and a vivid snapshot of where the Nottingham native’s life is now at.
We begin with the news that, her five-year relationship over, Keyworth has sought counselling – and her parsimonious callbacks to this £1-a-minute process form an amusing backbone to the show. Add another running gag about her new girlfriend’s malapropisms, and Keyworth has the mortar with which to assemble an engaging narrative, about her efforts to navigate singledom, new love, a self-diagnosis of ADHD – and a bereavement that knocks her sideways.
