The Last Five Years is a one-act musical two-hander focusing on a relationship from start to finish. It picked up admiration and accolades when it was performed in London at the Mernier Chocolate Factory recently, and Maple Giant Theatre are the first amateur company to acquire the rights to stage it. Oxford is the first lucky recipient of the production.

Set in New York, it focuses on a Jewish novelist Jamie Wellerstein (Luke Daking), and his partner, aspiring actress Cathy Hiatt (Rachel Parris) and their troubled relationship. Cathy tells her story backwards, while Jamie tells his story forwards, and they intersect in a particularly moving style somewhere in the middle with a duet. It's more of a song cycle than a musical, where the characters sing their songs, mostly, separately.

This conceit of the show is one that keeps the audience on its toes, if nothing else. Occasionally, it does feel a little bit forced and self-conscious; however, the dissonance and the similarities it sparks tend to keep it interesting. This deconstructionist portrayal of a relationship is not a new thing - think Harold Pinter's Betrayal or Francois Ozon's recent movie 5x2 - but the pairing of it with song cycle musical theatre is a refreshing one.

The production is solid. One of the more pleasing elements of it is the sturdiness of the acting; although accents waver and top notes are sometimes not quite reached, both actors really help in realising this quite tricky piece. The band are relatively snappy, although I felt that the strings needed a little bit of work. Perhaps it was just first night nerves.

Whether you warm to this does depend on whether you like the kind of artsy bohemian side of New York portrayed; you may find the characters somewhat self-absorbed and narcissistic. However, if you get past this - and I advise that you do - you get a fresh, funny, soulful and intelligent musical that is solidly performed, refreshingly pithy and painfully honest about love and what it does to people. It continues at the OFS until Saturday (01865 297170 - www.ofsstudio.org.uk).