At the beginning we are introduced to Fiona and Rachel, not when they first meet but when the decide they want to become a couple. We follow them through snapshots of moments in their lives together including during their engagement and their views on children and addressing infertility.
There isn’t a developed story, what we are getting to see are intimate moments in a couple’s relationship and how they react within those moments. As these moments feel like small stories on their own we don’t get to see much character development from scene to scene. But what we do get is an intimate portrayal of a tender and loving relationship. As an audience you completely believe in the characters of Fiona and Rachel, portrayed flawlessly by Florence Russell and Megan Jarvie respectively. You completely believe in the characters and their relationship, a testament to the acting talent and the strength of Colette Cullen’s dialogue.
However, we learn nothing about the characters outside the relationship and feel there is a lot more which could be explored. At times the characters felt too similar and needed more development to differentiate them. I wanted to learn more about the individuals rather than just the couple.
One thing I really like about this is that while there are specifics of the story which are unique to a lesbian couple, overall its a universal story. It’s a story about love and relationships and the issues people face, with the fact they are lesbians is incidental rather than the focus.
The story is billed as a comedy-drama but it is more focused on the drama. While there are a lot of funny lines they are more to make you smile than laugh out loud (so difficult to notice if they’re landing with the audience when they all have masks on). The play is engaging and there are no doubt parts of their relationship which everyone will recognise.
You can watch this at The Space until October 2nd with tickets available here. The theatre is Covid aware so space seats 1 metre apart in the groups the tickets are booked. If you’d rather watch this away from the theatre you can book a live-streamed version for October 1st.
