F*CK LOVE: A PLAY
Basement Theatre Studio, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
11/06/2013 - 22/06/2013
Production Details
Love screws up people more than anything else; more than drugs and even more than Facebook.
It’s compulsive, seductive, elusive and oh so stupid.
F*ck Love has been inspired by drunken conversations with women in bars “You’d be surprised at how unpopular love as a concept is” says first time writer/director Sarah Graham. Over the past two years, Sarah has talked to as many women in bars or house parties as she could find, listening to their epic tales of complicated love and heartache and what came out was F*ck Love: a play.
Everyone has a story to tell or an opinion to shove at you. Whether it’s a story about someone who’s never had a boyfriend but has slept with their entire group of friends or a declaration of how they think love doesn’t exist because its a waste of time, to those who are looking so hard but it just seems like no one is right.
Creating F*ck Love has started a conversation about love and how it can’t help but effect our lives as mid-twenties women who are still trying to figure out who we are while still holding onto our want to be fiercely independent.
Part drama, part comedy delight; F*ck Love is a quirky but realistic glimpse into New Zealand’s seemingly non-existent dating scene through the inexperienced and fantasizing eyes of three twenty something friends and flatmates, Meg, Claire and Trudy.
A story about women, created by a team of women.
Written and directed by Sarah Graham (The Outfit Theatre Company) in collaboration with the cast; Anoushka Klaus(A Criminal Christmas, 13), Jacqui Nauman (Auckland Daze, An Awkward Family Christmas) and Ema Barton (Alice, The Sex Show).
What: F*ck Love: a play
When: June 11 – 22
Where: Basement Studio (Lower Greys Ave)
Bookings: iTicket.co.nz
Fun with relationship dilemmas
Review by Heidi North 13th Jun 2013
F*ck Love: a play, is about well, f*cking, love, and sometimes the two of them together. The play centres on three twenty-something women all sharing a girly flat in Auckland, where together the three women work their ways through the giddy effects and unpleasant side effects of love.
First time Writer/Director Sarah Graham says the play “was created to celebrate a time in our lives when extreme friendships define us.” It’s the capturing of the deliciousness of this dramatic period of life where the play excels.
In a spirit of great fun, Claire (Anoushka Klaus), Trudy (Ema Barton) and Meg (Jacqui Nauman) eat copious amounts of snacks, run around in their pjs and underwear, knock back vodka shots and toast with champagne, all the while flat out discussing their relationship dilemmas over the period of a year.
When Claire, the more restrained of the trio, embarks on a risky affair that can only end in tears, friendships are tested.
There’re plenty of laughs. I don’t think the audience in the front row knows what they’re in for when Trudy appears hung over and half naked only to throw herself at the toilet at the front of the stage in order to barf (wonderful retching from Ema Barton).
The trio are tight and the play bounces with energy. The songs are a nice touch.
Sarah Graham’s script is light and fun, while still hitting on the truths of love. While exposition-heavy at times, overall it creates a fun world where three women have genuine friendships and dilemmas that aren’t easy to solve. At first it seems three ‘types’ of women are portrayed, but as the play progresses the actresses bring different sides to their roles. Jacqui Nauman in particular, does a good job of bringing out another side of the melodramatic Meg.
F*ck Love captures the essence of being twenty-something, and like Meg, living in the Disney fantasy of love: the heady excitement. Plus they dance. To Shania.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
F*ck yeah
Review by Matt Baker 13th Jun 2013
Written and directed by Sarah Graham, F*ck Love revolves around the lives of three twenty-something women in Auckland, each succumbing to and working their way through the effects of love. The play gets a passing grade on the Bechdel test, mainly because the love it explores is not only that between men and women, but the platonic love between female friends.
Confined to the open plan living of an apartment designed by Bruce Graham, there is a regular flow of entrances and exits, and periodic evocation of offstage characters, which prevents a stagnant setting and creates a full world in which the play can exist. John Lepper’s lighting design keeps things simple, playing with minimum and maximum effect for the monologues and musical moments. [More]
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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