home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
easter monday drinks 5 april 2010
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
MOST POPULAR LINKS... FRONT PAGE... MONTHLY DRINKS NIGHT
Loveplay
Verdict: Love through the ages
London - The Pleasance - 12 April - 1 May 05
There are two definite audiences for Loveplay: people who enjoy seeing a large theme delivered in bite-sized pieces; and 33-year-olds who have never seen a naked man.
Loveplay is a what-it-says-on-the-tin scheme of play - attempting to look at the many offshoots of love, and presenting them as vignettes from the ages.
It moves from 79 AD and the ‘civilisation’ of the Britons by the Romans, through the introduction of currency to the transactions of prostitutes, to the present day – when money’s spent on everything, even joining dating agencies to buy love.
In between, there are scenes from all the ages. There’s an old maid – in her 30s - who has never seen a naked man. She hires one for ‘scientific research’ – the one moment of up-front male nudity in the play.
Time jumps centuries, then decades - through the ages of darkness, Enlightenment, to the present age of excess. It’s an ambitious project – it works for some of the stories, and not for others.
In particular two scenes stand out for the way in which they develop the theme and the superb standard of acting.
It’s 1584, in the ruins where a Roman once chased his British tart. Two actors and a playwright rehearse an artfully-written play in rhyming couplets.
Trevelyn (Oliver Wallace) makes a superb dandy, tired of kissing pre-pubescent boys on stage. He is happy to take advantage of Helen (Brigid Lohrey)’s discontent with her playwright husband (Simon Money). Brigid Lohrey brings Helen to life as a woman bored of being seen either as an alabaster goddess on a pedestal or - when she succumbs to Trevelyn’s attentions - a whore.
In-jokes about the pretensions of actors and the theatre aside, this scene skilfully brings to attention the language of love, and in betrayal, the language of hate.
Another scene, several hundred years later, takes place in the garret of devilish artist De Vere - played with superb decadence by Simon Money. Oliver Wallace plays De Vere’s school friend, Buttermere – priest, and lamb to the slaughter.
De Vere is full of illicit temptation. He’s determined that Buttermere will pose for him as Lucifer - beautiful Morningstar and most beloved of heaven, before his fall. It’s a very intense scene - playing Oliver Wallace’s naturalistic delicacy against Simon Money earthy sexuality. Both actors give fine performances throughout the play, and in this scene in particular.
However, as a whole, Loveplay perhaps aims too high without any clear path.
The structure is simple: the action passes from age to age; a location links each story - as ruins are built over with houses, squats and offices.
But taking love as a theme proves too difficult a subject to pin down. The play deals with rape, time, superstition, language, dating, virginity, money, revolution - but they are only reflections or outgrowths of love.
The only moment of actual love, at a dating agency ice-breaker, is trite and unbelievable, and a device used to loop the whole play back in time again to the lines uttered by the Briton and the Roman (Ben de Halpert, Brigid Lohrey).
By taking so many diversions in pursuit of ephemeral love, the theme dilutes.
The weight of so many topics results in a few over-wrought monologues. In particular, the old maid (Karen Graham), in the Age of Enlightenment, dominates a scene with her contemplation of the nature of time. It detracts from the far more subtle faith of the man she has employed to show her his body (Simon Money).
A scene set in the Dark Ages is uncomfortable for its almost comedic musings of three Saxon men on the nature of curses and omens while they are gang-raping an unconscious women (offstage). This scene’s connection to love is buried under acres of dialogue on the nature of existence and natural disgust towards the rapists.
Love is such a big subject that it seems as if writer Moira Buffini has decided to come at it from as many angles as possible - and perhaps lost sight of her original goal.
Loveplay varies in tone. There is a tendency to combine comedy and tragedy in many scenes – as in the rape episode. Director Daniel Brennan seems happy with this mix - scary, sad, exciting, erotic and provocative as well as funny.
But in some scenes this doesn’t work. A nun (Wendy Albiston) in 1099 AD lays-out her lover’s body alongside a caricature of a novice (Brigid Lohrey), who detracts from the nun’s powerful emotion.
While love can be both tragic and comic, having both in the same scene feels uneven. The rape scene even brings to mind Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch – which is more than unfortunate.
But superior performance from the cast, amusing set-changes and genuine laughs make Loveplay an entertaining evening - even if it isn’t as thought-provoking and deep as it seems to intend.
Cast Credits: Wendy Albiston - Hilda, Marianne, Miss Tilly, Joy, Lynne, Anita. Ben De Halpert - Marcus, Deric, Mr Quilley, Boy, Dieter. Jaren Graham - Woman, Matilda, Roxanne, Millie, Rita. Brigid Lohrey - Dorcas, Gilda, Helen, Flynn, Brigitta. Simon Money - Herek, Llewellyn, Man, De Vere, Quinn. Oliver Wallace - Eric, Trevelyn, Buttermere, Gwyn, Peter.
Company Credits: Writer - Moira Buffini. Director - Daniel Brennan. Composer - Gillian Spencer. Lighting Designer - Idil Kazancel. Stage Managers - David Palmer, Tash Kiessling. Stage Manager for the Pleasance - Ryan Taylor. Poster Design - Gary Brashier.
END
(c) Beth White 2005
reviewed Wednesday 13 April 05 / The Pleasance
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2010
