a tight and uncomfortable queer story that must be told
Having therapy is meant to fix your problems, but what if your relationship is beyond fixing?
“Attachment Theory”, written by Liam Scanlon and directed by Dom Stephens, explores the undulating forms of queer attachment and how it can tear a relationship apart. After a sold out run at Canal Cafe Theatre, the three hander took the stage at the Bread & Roses Theatre.
Ryan, played by Dan Holland, and Edward, played by Marley Brown, are an unlikely pair. Edward is the son of a high society mother, bumping drugs and spilling his heart out on a canvas, while Ryan could not be more different. A former monk with a dark past, he escaped America in exchange for London to distance himself from the life he once had. But while Ryan is happy to let sleeping dogs lie, the turbulence of his new relationship with Edward carves gaping rifts that may never be repaired.
Bernice Togher plays Dr Lucarelli, the therapist sat in the corner who ties the piece together. While Ryan and Edward dip into therapy sessions while popping out into the real world, Dr Lucarelli watches on, her questions influencing the pair in ways they cannot see. With a sofa stool, patchwork black and white when all is grey, rooted in the centre, the play’s story swirls around, spanning time and place in kaleidoscopic fashion.
Dom Stephens’ direction keeps a tight hold on Liam Scanlon’s script, allowing the pulsing pace to race along while leaving the right breathing room for the right moments of stillness. Scanlon’s dialogue is knotty and thick, laden with juicy morsels and weighty in the mouths of the three actors.
The play does a good job of championing love above all things, but at what cost? These feelings cannot be explained away or reasoned out with a therapist, sometimes love can only be felt, despite any better judgement. Holland and Brown are both a perfect fit and polar opposites. We can see their attraction physicalised on stage, but from their opposing views it is clear that they will not be an easy match.
What could have been a by the numbers play about a couple both seeking therapy individually crackles with a life that is elevated by smart pace and meaty dialogue. A lean fringe show that takes you on a rollercoaster ride, “Attachment Theory” is a tight and uncomfortable queer story that must be told.