As the debut production of Full Volume Theatre, A Hardware Love Affair’s development season has a lot to commend it and potential that could be further explored. Lizzie Bysouth had the idea and co-wrote it with Sophie Helm, who is also the Director, while Bysouth and Daniel Honey are Musical Directors of the songs they’ve composed (with contributions from Phoebe Caldeiro and Sarah Paton Taylor). Louise Jamieson is the Choreographer.

Although it has a whiff of Romeo and Juliet’s ‘star-crossed lovers’ about it (which spawned West Side Story many decades ago), A Hardware Love Affair’s depiction of everyday people in everyday jobs is more redolent of our homegrown GIVE WAY – The Musical, and H.R. The Musical which now has a sequel. High drama disrupts routine occupations: a genre that touches many (did it start with 9 to 5?).

As the publicity tells us, “In this Mastertopyian world, once you turn 18 you must choose one hardware store to work at for the rest of your life. After all, ‘it’s the way it’s always been, you’re either orange or you’re green’.” Maddie Phillips (Bella Falconer) has chosen Mitre 10, where her dream is to become a forklift driver. When the system that manages their “beat it by 15 per cent” promise crashes, foul play is suspected and she goes undercover to Bunnings to exact revenge. There she meets Lee Flathead (Cayla Louise), who has also worked there since she was 18. Their instant attraction is mutual – and awkward for Maddie, given her fierce loyalty to Mitre 10. Finding herself drawn to the culture of Bunnings only makes it more so.

It’s no surprise that this leads Maddie to questioning the toxic tribalism that overrides competition in their marketplace. “Why must she choose at all?” as the programme note puts it. “And why can’t orange and green exist side by side, in something that looks a little like harmony?” At its best, then, A Hardware Love Affair is a timeless and universal allegory for the worst and best in human nature.

A romantic subplot has Mitre 10’s Brent Toolman (Bryce Blackmore) and compulsive shopper Alan Quay (Jiseop Shin), who is building a deck, somewhat alarmed at their mutual attraction. A perceived betrayal impedes the resolution of their story. Gary McManagement (Zalán Orbán) keeps his primal urges to online viewing. Drag Queen Checkout Operator Brenda Lawnmaster regales colleagues with their horoscopes. Bunnings’ Makita Von Drill has an eagle eye for health and safety violations.

As you can see from the character names, they are broadly drawn archetypes and the actors commit to them whole-heartedly, including in the bit-parts that flesh out the landscapes of both stores. As singers they play to their strengths, they step up to the choreography enthusiastically – and Maddie and Lee even get to tap dance.

As we might expect from a group called Full Volume Theatre, there’s a lot of belt and not much melody. Daniel Honey does a good job on keys but sometimes that isn’t quite enough. My musical adviser notes that backing tracks (easily created with software these days) would add rhythmic drive, stylistic flavour and spirit to some of the more upbeat numbers. As it is, from where we are sitting, it is hard to hear his heroic guitar playing. In this development phase, then, it is more acting with songs rather than a full-blown, fully sung musical.

The songs are more descriptive or expository than emotive or moody. One number with a singable, catchy melody is not quite there yet. The full cast kick things off with ‘Monday Morning at Mitre 10’; with ‘F-F-Fork’ Maddie shares her forklift dream, nicely embodied by other cast members; ‘The McManagement Plan’ unveils just that; likewise, ‘Why Would You Shop At Bunnings?’ which is where love blossoms; the air is somehow sweeter where the ‘Garden’s Greener’.

After interval, ‘Tool Time Tango’ channels The Village People; when they realise Maddie’s missing, ‘Team On Up’ aligns search party; ‘Aisle of Broken Dreams’ could be a poignant change of pace; despite Maddie’s vain attempts to defuse the incipient antipathy, we get ‘The Carpark Showdown’ in slo mo; finally the resolution is celebrated with ‘Do It Yourself Together’.

While there are many comic moments and clever one-liners, the script tends to ‘tell’ more than ‘show’. Somehow we don’t get drawn into empathy with the characters and their dilemmas – although our audience, stacked with staff members from Bunnings and Mitre 10, clearly find the in-jokes hilariously relatable. Their responses add to the enjoyment for us ‘outsiders’ – and they honour the team with a standing ovation.

The clever staging, involving three mobile shelving units with interchangeable labels and different items on view depending on their orientation, is an inspired way of moving the story back and forth from Mitre 10 to Bunnings, plus various other locations en route – including the dungeon Maddie is consigned to when her subterfuge is discovered. Some of the transitions could be tightened, however.

When developing the next draft, consideration could be given to going deeper and more interpersonal with the relationships, determining who is on a quest for what and where the obstacles are, and clearly delineating the key turning points from positive to negative and vice versa in the rhythm and pacing. We feel it could be trimmed by about 45 minutes, which would mean cutting the repetitive bits and ruthlessly culling some ‘little darlings’, along with tighter pacing in the parts that drag.

As it stands, beyond the broad brush-strokes of this first showing, A Hardware Love Affair’s potential is well worth pursuing.

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