THE OLD Fire Station played host to a charming romantic comedy this month, which proved that love may be all we need.

Writer Gillian Duffy brought her new production of her play ‘The Ghosting of Rabbie Burns’ as one of the two English stops to Carlisle on Thursday, February 10.

The play, produced by Duffy and directed by River City’s Jimmy Chisholm, saw real life couple Colin and Gill McGowan feature as the only two characters in the show.

Gill plays Emily Winter, an author who decides to retire to a quiet Ayrshire cottage which belonged to her late grandmother on Burns Night following a breakup from her boyfriend.

Little does Emily know, the cottage once belonged to the Bard of Ayrshire, who gets the opportunity to revisit his home on the day of his birth, January 25.

The cocky Burns may have come across as being just a bit too forward with his advances towards Emily, and you may not think that the great poet would be so vain, but the warm comedic back and forth between the pair still got laughs from the audience.

Trying to convince his sudden lodger that love shouldn’t be taken for granted, Burns commands Emily to sing a few of his well known songs, from ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ to ‘My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose’, sung softly and confidently by McGowan.

There was space for some audience participation too, as Burns glided along the floor to offer cheeky remarks to present-day dating terminology.

The intimacy of the venue made it feel like you were sitting in the cottage with the two characters, and a singalong to ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at the end of the show went down very well.

Ms Duffy has plans to tour the show, as well as staging more upcoming plays in 2022.