Love Fights: love stories of different kinds

Love Fights is Solo Collective Theatre’s latest production featuring two one-act plays  - Coffee Makes Me Cry by Adam Underwood, and The Trolley Car by Amiel Gladstone. Both plays are essentially about love and how it can affect the choices we make, but in two very different, and somewhat absurd, situations.

Coffee Makes Me Cry tells the story of Steven (Raphael Kepinski), and Jasmine (Emelia Symington Fedy), who agree to go on a blind date together after the match-making efforts of a mutual friend. The date could not begin more awkwardly, with clumsy conversation and a poorly-timed waiter (Hamza Adam), but after several cups of coffee, Steven and Jasmine become much more comfortable with each other – so much so that they suddenly proclaim their love for each other and decide to get married. As a first time playwright, Underwood has done well to create a script with a unique story line and comedic intention (coffee literally makes Jasmine cry) but I’m sorry to say it just didn’t do it for me. While the actors deserve kudos for their strong comic characters, particularly Symington Fedy, to me the dialogue seemed weak and the direction was at times bland, and I’m afraid I found myself cringing more often than laughing.

The Trolley Car, on the other hand, is a love story of a different kind and was much more up my alley. Set in occupied France, this stylistic production directed by Rachel Peake tells the story of Florence, played by the very talented and elegant Emma Slipp, and her love for her husband’s cousin, Inez (Symington Fedy). Throughout the play, Florence informs the audience of the difficult life choices she made by switching between story-telling and re-enacting segments of her life. The dialogue is lovely and Peake’s direction, combined with the clever use of lighting and sound, is innovative and engaging. Symington Fedy and Kepinski, as Florence’s husband Albert, deserve once again to be commended on their exceptional execution of two very strong characters, but in my opinion it is Emma Slipp who steals the spotlight in this show.

Love definitely does fight in these two one-act play. Showing until Nov 14 at Performance Works on Granville Island for more information go solo here.