Sometimes you have a day so bad that only a bit of musical theatre can make things feel better. No? Just me and a circle of people on the internet? You know what, I’ll take it. It’s nice to feel part of something.

When I booked Kimberly Akimbo this morning, it was as though I knew today was going to test me. And my, oh my, was this show the tonic to the gin I could have so easily consumed this evening.

Maria Friedman plays Kimberly Levaco, a young woman born with a genetic condition that means she ages four times quicker than her peers. She’s surrounded by her father, Buddy (Peter Hannah), mother Patty (played this evening by Rachel Flynn), and a distant aunt, Debra (Alice Fearn), who appears seemingly from nowhere and quickly leads Kimberly astray. Her family are, it’s fair to say, dysfunctional at best.

At school, Kimberly’s friends are Aaron Puckett (Ronav Jain), Seth Weetis (Gilli Jones), Martin Doaty (Robin Simões Da Silva) and Delia McDaniels (Aviva Tulley). They’re wonderfully young, suitably naive and consumed by a choir rivalry with another school. Seth, however, has a home life with startling similarities to Kimberly’s. They never quite bond over their respective circumstances, but there is a connection and, perhaps, a sense of safety in this.

What’s more, there’s something quietly revolutionary about the absence of personal technology in the hands of these young people. The piece is set in 1999, when such technology certainly existed, but hadn’t yet become central to everyday life. Aside from a camera, used to great effect throughout, there’s not an ounce of tech in sight. I suspect this is an accidental statement rather than a deliberate one.

It’s also worth noting that, though a clock is constantly moving throughout the piece, the production has thankfully resisted the urge to time jump, provide ticking sound effects or project ripples across the stage, à la Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

It’s deeply refreshing.

There’s no dramatic ending, no sudden happily ever after or miraculous moment. Instead, the piece slowly, steadily and rather wonderfully trundles along through inherently unlikeable characters and clear moral flaws, while the sad inevitability of it all quietly creeps up on you.

Kimberly Levaco is not afraid to believe in life, living and the beauty of being alive, but whenever she lets her guard down, she’s reminded of how utterly hopeless being human can make those closest to her. Just as things seem to finally settle, there’s an ‘Inevitable Turn’.

I’ll not spoil anything, because this is a show you have to be in the room to feel. I’ve heard consistently since that people have found the piece deeply moving and emotionally engaging, and I absolutely agree. I loved it, and it certainly made me want to grab life by the breasticles. But I’m not sure I’d call it life-affirming. I left the theatre profoundly moved, though not necessarily with any more answers than when I arrived.

Tears were streaming and sniffles sniffed.

The show perfectly balances youthful exuberance with the harsh realities of growing up. There are two devastating moments in Kimberly’s arc that really bring home the nature of her condition. These aren’t shock revelations, just beautifully acted moments delivered with pitch-perfect precision by Maria Friedman.

One costume reveal in Act Two elicited audible gasps from the audience, a testament to just how effectively the production has built Kimberly’s story.

The set, choreography and youthful brightness of the piece feel like they may spill into the audience at any moment. A house sits centre stage, with a school, an ice skating rink, a garage and a car unfolding and moving out from its structure. There’s something rather wonderful about the imagery that, wherever Kimberly goes, she’s never too far from home or her insidious family. Even as she embarks on her great adventure, the structure remains in the background.

The piece works beautifully at the intimate Hampstead Theatre, and I think staging it here was absolutely the right choice. The show has scale and sprawls out across the not inconsiderable size of the space, but preserving its intimacy is key. Whilst I hope it goes on to enjoy a long and successful journey elsewhere, I fear it could easily be swallowed by a larger playing space. Somewhere like the Fortune Theatre might be ideal, assuming it would fit.

The natural comparison is to the wonderful The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Ambassadors Theatre last year. It’s a very worthy comparison, but on theme alone, and only because there are so few stories that explore this territory. These are two distinctly different takes on ageing, life and the wonder of being alive. Both achieve similar outcomes, but Kimberly Akimbo is very much about seeing the world through young eyes that will never get any older.

The soundtrack is wonderful, though slightly held back by the sound design at Hampstead Theatre. The vocals are sensational, the cast phenomenally talented, and I’m sure this story, experiencing its first ‘Great Adventure’ in Europe, will go on to touch many more hearts. Ultimately, it’s a very lovely evening at the theatre.