As the lights go down we meet two people sitting together in an empty space, discussing their relationships. They both have different recollections about the first time they saw each other, and it appears at first that they have very different attitudes to people and dating.
It’s only close to the end of Ian Salmon’s new one-act play that we learn the names of these two individuals, and of the events that link them and have brought them to this conversation, but they are Cathy and Mark, pausing at a watershed moment in time to reminisce. At various stages of their past their paths have crossed, but for one reason or another they have never got together. More than anything it seems to have been a series of misunderstandings and coincidences that have kept them at arm’s length every time they might have met.
Whilst Mark might seem to have a more relaxed approach to deciding who he would ‘do’, it seems that Cathy isn’t that far away from him – she just finds subtler ways of talking about it. They may occasionally scandalise each other with their ideas, but they really aren’t that different under the surface.
Salmon writes with a natural flow and rhythm, his love of music spilling over into the way he uses words. Words directed here by Mike Dickinson who has an obvious rapport with the writer, having previously directed two of his earlier works. Dickinson’s edgy style keeps the actors in constant motion, circling each other on the stage like a pair of caged tigers, sitting occasionally - partly obscured from view - only to resume the verbal jousting match on the move again.
The true reason for this strange meeting of souls isn’t dropped like a bombshell, but is gently tossed into the conversation where it fizzes quietly in the background, sending a tingle up the spines of the audience as understanding dawns.
Samantha Alton and Thomas Galashan make great sparring partners as Cathy and Mark. They both capture the cadence of Salmon’s dialogue perfectly and hit moments of humour and jarring awkwardness with real precision.
A Brief Conversation About the Inevitability of Love opened Little LTF – which presents 14 new works over a 7 day period at St Luke’s Church. Little LTF is the brainchild of Bill Elms, who is bringing back the Liverpool Theatre Festival which gave Liverpool a much needed dose of live performance in the midst of national lockdown last autumn. Ahead of LTF, which is coming again in September, Bill decided to add this opportunity to present new works, which were chosen from an open call for writers and performers.
Anyone who fears the British weather need fret no more, as this year St Luke’s has grown a roof for the event.
Full details of the shows coming up across the week can be found in the digital brochure: https://issuu.com/billelms/docs/little_ltf_2021_upload_for_issuu
And tickets are on sale here: https://www.acc360.co.uk/sales/liverpool-theatre-festival-1621440908
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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| Production photography © David Munn |
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