“A promising first production reminding us of the nature of love.”
Produced by Magnifying Glass Theatre as its first show, 10 Loves certainly has an original premise and deserves its place in Lambeth Fringe. The government trying to control one’s life, all in the supposed best interest of the people, is here taken to the extreme, with a law obliging each couple to say “I love you” ten times a day and spend 30 uninterrupted minutes together. This, alongside the growing divorce rates and the decreasing fertility rates, could certainly be a natural development of the current nanny states all over the world.
Two chairs, two sets of clothes, one couple. This minimalistic setup shines the spotlight on two young actors, Moana Doll and Daniel Hintner, in the role of a newlywed couple. The couple start in white wedding clothes, but the awkward, romantic honeymoon phase soon gives way to a routine all too relatable, as they transition into their everyday clothes.
Given the minimalism of the set, the play must provide gripping entertainment, a goal it half succeeds in achieving. Both actors fit very well into their roles, roles which ideally would have been developed even further. The wife’s personality stands out from the beginning as she is already firm in her conviction that she should only say “I love you” when she means it, while the husband is more willing to go along with the game. Given the minimal set, Moana Doll and Daniel Hintner both aptly use miming to mimic the actions of everyday life, such as the act of taking on one’s shoes (by Hintner), and play a very realistic couple.
However, as the play progresses, the expected happens: the fights start, it becomes harder to find things to say in 30 minutes, harder to say “I love you” amidst the stress of daily life. The same pattern repeats itself, over and over again, until once again, expectedly, the couple end up separating to remove themselves from the obligation of the rules. The transitions between the days become repetitive, with little worth paying attention to, and it being unclear what the timeframe of the whole story is – whether days, months, years… The conversations, while occasionally funny and relatable, could also have been further explored and expanded upon to create more depth in the characters’ personalities or in the plot.
Aside from the smart dystopian premise, which is spelled out in the pamphlet and description before the play has even started, writer and director Sining Gui does fall short of expanding on the plot and surprising the audience with slightly more nuance.
10 Loves has now concluded its run at The Bread and Roses Theatre.