Two Hearts

This play covers a relationship, born at a loud Sydney party, to its death a few years later in trauma and grief. Who’s to blame? How could the two participants have done things differently? Two Hearts follows the exciting formation and bitter ending of the kind of relationship we could all do without, but which will probably be heading our way.

Published in 2019 after successful productions in Sydney and Melbourne, Laura Lethlean’s rapid-fire play finds a successful new home at the Flight Path Theatre where a packed first night followed the story unfold intensely. 

The story is told by two actors – Danette Potgieter as HER, looking good in jeans and one-button waistcoat, and Jarno Rohling as HIM, in jeans and a T-shirt (when worn) strongly reminding us throughout of the 70’s pop group emblazoned on his front - The Nerves. 

A third performer is also there. Lisa Hanssens plays IT, at one moment a former girlfriend of His, at other moments it’s difficult to say. IT, as the director’s program note says, ‘carries both the wonder and curiosity of a child and the wisdom and guidance of an elder’. So there you go.

Taking us through from Day One of the relationship, the two protagonists are sprightly and welcoming. She is more willing that he is, perhaps because of past pairings, but the two combine well and the audience was absolutely wrapped. The pairing is a triumph.

Then we view the first stumblings and gradual chaotic failing of the match. Who is to blame? Who carries the can? Playwright Laura Lethlean keeps us guessing. 

With excellent lighting by Jason Borsovsky and sound by Charlotte Leamon, the setting by Jason Lowe stands out. A three-level wooden construction with a large, four-panelled window on the top level, it does wonders for the myriad of settings, however briefly mentioned.

Frank Hatherley