Date of Show Reviewed: 23/5/19

Location: Drayton Arms Theatre, London

Back in May I popped down to the Drayton Arms Theatre to watch a pre-Edinburgh run of Love and Misinformation. Inspired by the work of playwright Caryl Churchill, the cast of nine performers took us on a long-form exploration of the audience suggestion ‘Grace’.

Starting with a run of simultaneous monologues from the whole ensemble, the show then continued with a variety of scenes, some connected some not. With a running time of one hour forty minutes the group never looked like they were running out of steam or ideas on where to take the audience next.

The group took their time and scenes were played out slowly and carefully. This worked particularly well for emotive scenes- a son coming to terms with his mother’s want to be left alone to die and a woman exploring her feelings for an ex-partner whilst preparing to marry his brother. There’s were also some upbeat and funny scenes- highlights include Pedro and Carol a couple who start off having sex in a bar toilet without knowing each other’s names and end up on holiday in Mexico giving each other frog figurines as gifts. We’ve all been there, am I right?

At times the editing could have been a little more slick- sometimes blackouts came before the audience were ready to leave the characters or a few beats after a suitable point. Also being not overly familiar with the work of Caryl Churchill, I had been expected a more narrative feel to the show with it being billed as an improvised play. The piece it draws inspiration from, Love and Information, is in fact, a 50 scene play so as long as you know that its a large collection of emotive and meaningful scenes then you are in for a good night

 Love and Misinformation will be at the Fringe from August 12-17 and 19-24 playing at the Greenside @ Royal Terrace.

Score:***’ 3.5 stars