To Lonely, With Love

There is a lot to be said about the art of letter writing, especially between the incarcerated and lonely people on the outside.

To Lonely, With Love, created from real letters by the director and performer Jennifer Monk, with Lisa Dallinger and Perri Cummings, is having its second season after its Explorations run at La Mama in 2016.

This is a genuinely entertaining nostalgia-driven piece of drama meeting physical theatre.

The play opens with the Sixties song ‘Please, Mr Postman’, and a mime skit that is  burly and  hilarious, whilst it points the figure at the digital age.

Two exceptional performers, Monk and Dallinger embrace the small space at La Mama with passionate  gusto, delving  into their multi-character personas  of real life prisoners known only as ‘Sam’ and ‘Roger’, plus other characters including a bored  housewife  and a  teenage girl.

There is an ongoing duality of two stories and a mélange of vignettes that probe these murky waters. The eighties dating show Perfect Match (if your old enough to remember it) is hilariously farcical.

Props of cage partitions are used to full capacity exemplifying, trapped emotions and reflecting prison thresholds. The costume design is vibrant and colourful in retro fifties with a touch of  Jailhouse Rock pazazz.

Monk and Dallinger are such exceptional actors, both comfortable in their roles as inmates and as doting females. They are the perfect banana-split combination!

This is a poignant entertaining show about communication and a longing for love.

I highly recommend everyone to go see this brilliant and energetic show.

Flora Georgiou