Strictly star's story of revenge and betrayal has viewers on the edges of their seats

Express.co.uk headed for Horsham earlier this month to witness Strictly pro Pasha Kovalev's new musical, Barista - and it was well worth the journey.

The fictional story is centred around a coffee business - fittingly, as when the Colombian dancers start swishing their skirts in time to the rhythm, it'll be like you've had a double espresso injection directly into your veins. For the first 15 minutes, the plot fails to captivate - but then, suddenly, you realise that's exactly the producers' intention.

The story captures a man initially living a hum-drum existence, desperately trying to keep his failing coffee shop afloat despite dwindling profits - but then a student arrives in the UK who just happens to be a Colombian coffee connoisseur, to shake up both his business and his life. That's when the magic begins, with an explosion of colour, costume and camaraderie - and viewers, like the character, will leave their everyday lives behind as they get drawn in.

Pasha told us in an exclusive interview ahead of the show that he wanted audiences to experience "escapism" and be lost in a world of Latin dance and song - and he wasn't exaggerating about the show's ability to create that state. Viewers see a burgeoning romance between café-owner Andy Scott (George Crawford) and student Isabella Sanchez (Sara Bartos) - but, of course, like all good musicals, a twist in the tale is never far away.

Audiences feel the stinging pain of betrayal along with Isabella as the business she lovingly helped her beau build is whisked away in an instant by a wealthy female investor who scornfully dismisses her as "just as an employee". With her funding, Andy can expand the business and get the profits and recognition he's been dreaming of - and she promises him the world in order to cunningly capture his heart.

Left out in the cold by the new arrival when she waltzes in with her pencil skirt and crimson skyscraper heels, despite the fact that she's the one who can make the perfect cup of Colombian coffee, a mournful Isabella withdraws.

In the end, she leaves him altogether in favour of returning to her family home back in Colombia, and it looks as if all the time and energy she invested in her romance was for nothing - but there's a twist.

A sinister and shadowy figure who has her entire family under his control is the man responsible for the business woman's sudden appearance.

Unbeknown to Isabella, the man - a threatening mobster - is despised by her family elders for raping her mother, killing her father and threatening everyone's existence unless they do his bidding.

Desperate to control her life even from thousands of miles away, for reasons which are never entirely made clear - unless his obsession with her mother extends to her too - he had instructed the business woman to keep a close eye on her.

She'd also been tasked with sabotaging her relationship with Andy - but after Isabella flees back to Colombia, her heartbroken lover, who still holds a flame for her, eventually decides to follow her.

It's there that the pair learn of the sinister man's plot - but will her brother have the guts to pull the trigger of the gun, despite his goading that he'll never dare, and rid them of the curse that follows them forever?

In another sickening twist, could Isabella be the biological daughter of the malevolent figure, instead of the man she loved and thought was her father?

Not according to her mother, who declares that "such a beautiful girl could never have come from someone like you" - and those are among the last words the villain hears as the gunshot finally rings out to end her family's torment.

The first-class singing is imbued with intense emotions, perfectly broadcasting grief, despair and desperation, while in more light-hearted moments, the bright and colourful costumes and dances evoke the joyous spirit of Colombia at its best.

While the show's run at Horsham's Capitol Theatre is over, for now, one thing is for certain - this won't be the last you've heard from Pasha Kovalev, or the incredible team who brought scenes of tragedy and triumph to life alongside him.