Sherman Cymru, Cardiff
Wed 15-Sat 18 Feb
words: BETSAN JONES
“That is the story of our beginning. And this is the story of… the end” is perhaps not the most comforting, or indeed cheerful, of straplines. However, writer Abi Morgan – whose recent credits include the Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, Steve McQueen’s Shame, the BBC drama The Hour and the BBC adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ First World War novel Birdsong – delivers a play where all is certainly not lost, and in which the optimism of youth becomes the wisdom of experience.
Lovesong, a visually beautiful piece of physical theatre, is provided a delicate and moving production by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett from theatre company Frantic Assembly, and with movement and dance crucial to the storytelling, Graham’s choreography reveals the intensity of the emotions as effectively as the dialogue. The story itself is a beautifully haunting tale in which we follow the romantic developments of a couple in their 20s, closely knitted with the tale of the same couple a lifetime later. Past and present sidestep and intertwine as we shift between the 1960s and the present, enabled by the masterful writing of Morgan, who sharply articulates the process of aging, and the simultaneous maturing of a couple’s relationship.
Inspired by TS Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, Lovesong is an evocation of Prufrock’s lyrical observations on love and his explorations on the idea of the individual’s place in society. Who can forget the pathos of “I grow old… I grow old… / I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled”? As Dominic Cavendish from the Daily Telegraph somewhat emotionally observed “it’s all you can do to fight back the tears”, Lovesong is ultimately a piece of theatre which asks questions about love in the face of mortality. Hardly a new concept of course, but with a performance so full of human truths, Lovesong rings clear as a bell. Starring Edward Bennett, Sam Cox, Leanne Rowe and Sherman Cymru patron, Siân Phillips, this is a moving and insightful depiction of a couple rediscovering their relationship in old age which may leave you sobbing in the rafters.
Tickets: £15-£25. Info: 029 2064 6900 / www.shermancymru.co.uk
COMPETITION | WIN TICKETS TO SEE LOVESONG
Sherman Cymru re-opens this February with a stellar lineup of inventive theatre and performance. Lovesong, written by Abi Morgan, is a tale of intertwining love and togetherness and it comes to the Sherman stage from Wed 15-Sat 18 Feb. We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. Q: Name the two most recent films written by Abi Morgan
Send your answers along with name, and contact number to [email protected] by Mon 13 Feb.