Two lovers glide effortlessly towards each other down the aisle as passions reach a crescendo. But instead of locking lips they clunk metal cages and quiver on their wheels.

For yes, this is a tale of what happens when a pair of shopping trolleys fall in love.

Part dance, part ballet, part outdoor spectacular, Trolleys will be performed by C-12 Dance Theatre in St Albans on August 25 as part of the Summer in the City programme.

Set to a pounding electro-acoustic score, it shows what happens when the supermarket lights go down.

Five dancers whirl around the stage, leaping over and around the grocery carriers. Two of the metal marvels meet and fall handle over wheel for each other, one grapples to find a friend and three others revolt and ignite a dance of anarchy.

“People who have been to see it tell us they will never look at a shopping trolley the same way again,“ says artistic director and co-founder of C-12, Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster.

“They say they want to try it in the Tesco aisle, but, of course, we tell them not to.

“It’s a very fast show and there are lots of near misses. The rehearsals were very challenging because there were injuries and lots of scrapes and bruises and the sound of trolleys crashing.

“It’s quite a workout as they pretty much don’t let go of the trolleys for the entire 20 minutes.“

The show was devised in collaboration with award-winning Australian choreographer Shaun Parker and will be taken Down Under by Annie-Lunnette in October.

“Shaun was inspired by the movement of trolleys,“ she says.

“They glide through space and are an extension of the dancers’ bodies, like an extra limb.

“It’s definitely romantic when they fall in love.“

C-12 is also working on its next outdoor show set in a market stall.

Annie-Lunnette says: “We definitely like to take the mundane and look at it differently and take inspiration from things that everybody can relate to.

Summer in the City runs until Sunday and will also include performances of The Taming of the Shrew, Junk Percussions, Little Red Riding Hood and the Flower Power Fuschias.

  • Trolleys, St Peter’s Street and Market Place, St Albans, Sunday, August 25, 11.30am and 2.40pm. Free event. Details: enjoystalbans.com