No Love Songs
Gripping and intense No Love Songs is a piece of theatre which gives a powerful insight into the joyous highs and desperate lows of a new relationship.
The music comprising tender ballads and rock anthems is vibrant, with the story real and raw.
I went into the show a little blind about its trajectory and when it dived into the subject of post-natal depression, I was left feeling like I was standing on a cliff, because my plus one had gone through a similar experience.
It begins playful enough with the energy and nitty gritty of lust – which turns into love.
The new Foundry Theatre, tucked behind a narrow corridor that you enter from the foyer of the Sydney Lyric, does not have much of a backstage area.
So, the two leads entered casually through the audience. Jessie (Keegan Joyce) and Lana (Lucy Maunder) meet at a pub and fall for each other instantly. They get to know each other after sleeping together… soon becoming each other’s ‘Stressball’ as per the opening song.
The stage was set with great simplicity – laden with cases from a rock gig – with the different scenes and moods illustrated with a brilliant lighting design from Grant Anderson.
No Love Songs was originally produced in Scotland, but the original creatives have given permission to localise the story.
The couple in this production are from Newcastle and the transplantation felt very comfortable.
Lana gives birth – vividly describing all the icky and joyous details. The best line was the new mother’s description of herself as a split couch. Jessie deals humorously with the ‘horrors’ of nappies – thankfully described and not seen.
Jessie a singer in an emerging rock band and gets the opportunity to tour to the United States leaving behind his partner and new son.
Maunder drew deep on her own experience as a mother to give a brilliant performance. Joyce was both charismatic as a performer and convincing.
They shared the stage with just one musician – Mark Chamberlain – providing a surprising full sound with Joyce on guitar.
The writer Johnny McKnight wanted to give an insight into what happens next in rom-com. What is the reality after the couple fall in love. He’s delivered that in spades.
It was an emotional roller coaster for those in the audience who have gone through post-natal depression themselves. Others will have a new insight into the experience of motherhood. That’s what real and relatable theatre does.
David Spicer
Photographer: Brett Boardman
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Tour Dates
On stage at the Foundry Theatre until April 13.
Parramatta
13 MAY – 18 May • Riverside Theatres
Adelaide
21 MAY – 1 Jun • Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Brisbane
4 Jun – 15 Jun • Brisbane Powerhouse
Wyong
17 Jun – 19 Jun • The Art House
Newcastle
20 Jun – 22 Jun • Civic Theatre
Melbourne
22 Jul – 10 Aug • Athenaeum Theatre
Canberra
13 Aug – 17 Aug • The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre
Wollongong
20 Aug – 24 Aug • Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
Geelong
27 Aug – 31 Aug • The Story House, Geelong Arts Centre
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