Lovesong (Oberon Modern Plays)

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Despite maintaining their individual personality traits, the relationship of the couple seemed to change in many ways as they grew older. Throughout the performance I thought of Maggie and William as a unit, and so when Maggie died it felt as though William was left at a loose end and appeared vulnerable without Maggie; the sorrowful atmosphere could’ve easily accounted for the death of both characters. This use of soft lighting and gentle music, which accompanied the couple’s conversation about death, made the audience feel remorseful and naturally captured the universal fear of ageing. Past and present literally intertwine as the older and younger couples move around each other across the stage. This image linked to the earlier conversation between Maggie and Bill, when she told him that she would want him to relive memories and revisit places they’d been together when she was gone.

However, their marriage survives his addictive tendencies, temptations of infidelity on both sides, and an inability to have children that affects them both profoundly but manifests in different ways. This costume coordination allowed for Bill to recognise that at times he saw the younger Margaret buried beneath Maggie’s ageing appearance and deteriorating health; the audience see this when the older Bill dances with the memory of his young wife. This larger space made the cross-cutting techniques more effective and gave the audience a feeling of looking in on the scenes. Her plays include Skinned, Sleeping Around, Splendour (Paines Plough); Tiny Dynamite (Traverse); Tender (Hampstead Theatre);.

He touches on where the idea came from and focuses on a particularly important scene and the building blocks used in its creation. One aspect of the direction which I found particularly thoughtful was the way that scenes which clearly showed Maggie and Margaret as being the same character, as an obvious choice would’ve been to have them speak some of the same lines or do some of the same actions- however this never happened. In Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett's beautifully choreographed production, today and yesterday are in a constant pas de deux with each other. Whilst these furnishings were used beautifully for seamless entrances and exits of the actors (such as when Maggie walks into the wardrobe, and the younger Margaret steps out) the rest of the spacious stage was left empty; allowing room for scenes of elaborate physical theatre.

A specific scene which was empowered by music was the scene where Maggie finds her old high heel shoes in the wardrobe. She also gives a beautifully understated performance as the old lady wracked by physical pain and dark memory.Another way in which Maggie and Margaret connected their characters was through the use of Brechtian-style gesture; both often pursed their lips to show displeasure. There is a deal of clever staging: characters disappearing into wardrobes, coming out of the fridge or emerging like the Kraken from some subterranean time world beneath the bed. One way in which this was achieved was by the repetition of William saying ‘blue’ each time Maggie swallowed a blue pill.

Frantic Assembly is the operating name of Frantic Theatre Company Ltd, a Registered Charity, no 1113716. Lovesong plays at the Drum Theatre Plymouth 30th September to 15 October 2011, then opens in Washington DC in Autumn 2011 followed by a run at Sheffield Crucible from 19th October. 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. The magic realism of the story is also enhanced by occasional balletic movements well delivered by the older couple Phillips who was pushing 80 when the play was filmed is an astonishing dancer. What we loved about those was the hero's grand romantic gesture that risked being missed or misunderstood by the object of his love.It's not often that you hear mass sobbing in the theatre, but it's all sniffles during the latter stages of this new Frantic Assembly show. I say ‘watched’ but frankly I could only gaze at the play through tearful eyes; it is deeply moving without being in the least sentimental, achingly sad without being morbid. The set was simplistic; only featuring basic statement furnishings of the house (such as the fridge, table, bed and wardrobe). 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.