Lovesong (Oberon Modern Plays)

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An aspect of the set left open to interpretation was the use of the autumn leaves scattered across the stage floor; I believed this was symbolic of decay and time passing. The story, which explores the endurance of relationships and decaying of the human body is brought to life, focuses on the entwining lives of William and Margaret (later becoming Bill and Maggie) as they progress through time together, and the audience witness their past and present selves collide in memories. This evoked sympathy from the audience for Maggie, as the shoes were representative of her youth; being unable to walk in them seemed like being unable to relive her youth despite her best efforts and clear sense of nostalgia. Lovesong is the story of one couple, told from two different points in their lives: as young lovers in their twenties and as worldly companions looking back on their relationship from old age. That sometimes bumpy relationship is drawing to a close as Maggie’s increasing and terminal frailty forces the couple into making some drastic preparations.

However, the differentiating factor in their voices was that while the volume of Margaret’s voice fluctuated depending on the situation, Maggie’s voice was much louder the majority of the time. There is something a trifle over-elegiac about the evening, and the script is frustratingly hazy on detail. Often when both couples appeared in the same scene together, the young couple were lit in a soft, warm coloured lighting whilst the old couple were often left in darkness. Though widely performed in the south of England over the last decade, we’re delighted to bring this beautiful and haunting drama to the North East. Her The Night is Darkest Before the Dawn was written and performed as part of The Great Game: Afghanistan cycle of plays which recently toured to the Pentagon.Her plays Splendour and Tiny Dynamite were commissioned by Paines Plough and are published by Oberon Books. She also gives a beautifully understated performance as the old lady wracked by physical pain and dark memory. Her television work includes My Fragile Heart, Murder, Sex Traffic, Tsunami – The Aftermath, White Girl, Royal Wedding, Birdsong, The Hour, River and The Split.

The production stayed with me for a long time after I had seen it, as for me it illustrated the fragility of life and relationships, and the naturalistic, raw emotional response to separation through death. This worked particularly well in the scene where Bill and Maggie are laid on the bed, and Margaret and William are sat, perched up against the end of the bed.Fugee (National Theatre), 27 (National Theatre of Scotland), Love Song (Frantic Assembly) and The Mistress Contract (Royal Court Theatre). The powerful poignancy of the piece is further ratcheted up by the presence of their younger selves about to begin their journey into a long but childless marriage. This created a sorrowful ambiance, as it proved hard to watch a couple who were once so passionate and full of adoration for each another now have nothing left to say to one another. But it is also admirably clear-eyed about the ups and downs of a happy, childless marriage: the little betrayals, the thoughtless chatters of friends, the need to sometimes escape another person even if you love them, the lack of legacy, the terrible fear of turning into one of those couples "facing one another over a cooling cup of coffee with nothing left to say".