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Theatre: Love Song
This Is Local London
11 December 2006
By Martina Smit
In Love Song, an all-star cast tells the story of how a weirdo's romance transforms all around him.
Beane (Cillian Murphy) owns one extra pair of underpants, works at a toll booth and eats out of a cup with a spoon. But when the mysterious Molly (Neve Campbell, of Scream fame) breaks into his flat and "liberates" him from his sparse belongings, he falls madly in love.
Miraculously his grey existence turns into full colour: now he waxes lyrical about a turkey sandwich and his sister Joan's body odour.
His sudden enthusiasm rubs off on the controlling Joan (Kristen Johnston), who makes a habit of firing volunteer office interns for misfiling a single document. Where she once sparred with her older husband Harry (a delightfully dry and mannerly Michael McKean), they now both pull a sickie for a whole day of sex. At first Jonhston (sic) is overbearing, but later her warmth carries the play.
Campbell, who first became famous as a teen star in Party of Five, is an invasive yet sexy Molly. However, it is Murphy—who most recently starred in the acclaimed Irish conflict film The Wind that Shakes the Barley—that truly shines as the hapless but endearing Beane.
Director John Crowley's filmic approach—complete with opening title, trendy soundtrack, and closing credits—adds to the production's modern feel.
But the script by John Kolverbach is laboured in places. A passionate exchange between Beane and Molly makes poetry of crawling through sewers and syringes—to the point of absurdity.
And due to no fault of the cast, Beane's sudden transformation from shambling loner to starry-eyed lover is much less believable than the rekindled romance of the married couple. With the play lasting just 90 minutes, Kolverbach could have mined much deeper in his main character's plagued psyche.
Nevertheless, the play has its moments: when Beane over-complicates a multiple choice quiz, and later when Harry admits the smell of melons causes a "situation" in his pants.
Overall—without giving too much away—Love Song poses the question: is it better to face reality, or to live in a dream? In the end it says, in a rather enjoyable way, that you need a bit of both.
