Lovesong (Oberon Modern Plays)

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Telling the story of a couple, Love Song is split between a young William/Margaret and the older Billy/Maggie, depicting the highs and lows of a relationship. Morgan’s text weaves between the honeymoon period of early relationship bliss to the older, refined relationship of a couple who have been together some forty years. The stories twist between each other so at times an older Billy directs dialogue at a younger Margaret, and vice versa. Coupled with Graham and Hoggett’s signature physical movement, the relationship between the couple is physically played with, moving between straight dialogue and movement showing the topography of this couple’s relationship beautifully. Ravindran, Manori (27 January 2020). "Writer Abi Morgan Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020 . Retrieved 13 March 2020.

The high-concept premise is that the same couple is portrayed by Sam Cox and Sian Phillips over a few days late in life, and in their 20s and 30s by the younger actors. Each pair of actors almost always interacts only with each other, but all four are frequently on stage at the same time: the end of one scene overlaps with the next, and Morgan skillfully sets up plot points and themes in one frame that are supplemented or advanced by information provided in the other. Older Billy opens the fridge in his spacious middle-American kitchen, and out pops Margaret in a ’60s outfit, gleefully exploring the home they’re just moving into. Going through boxes of stuff from the attic, Maggie wonders why they ever needed those silly Chinese lanterns — and the lanterns then appear in a climactic scene in the earlier plot.

But the writing is sometimes vague or twee where it needs to be vivid. The desire to speak generously of universal experiences robs the play of a dense and satisfying specificity. Of the characters only William - played with great conviction and fluency by Edward Bennett - feels truly magnetic.

There's sensitive work around him from Leanne Rowe, Sam Cox and the spry Siân Phillips. The production is deftly constructed, and some sequences are delicately balletic. Many people will find it deeply moving, and the subject matter is undeniably poignant.’ Love is a leap of faith. Abi Morgan’s new play Lovesong takes the audience with a couple, Margaret and William, as they take that leap into married life in a foreign country. He is a dentist she a homemaker; together they make the move to the US. Their journey through life is told by the couple in old age, as played by Sam Cox and Sian Phillips, as they interact on stage with their younger selves, played by Leanne Rowe and Edward Bennett. Abigail Louise Morgan was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1968. [1] [2] She is the daughter of actress Pat England and theatre director Gareth Morgan, who was director of the Gulbenkian Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne (now the Northern Stage). Her parents divorced when she was a teenager and her childhood was spent moving around the country while her mother acted in repertory theatre; she told The Scotsman in 2010 that she had attended seven separate schools during her childhood. [3] Her sister is the fundraiser at London's Unicorn Theatre. [4] SAM COX’S recent stage work includes Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That Ends Well (both Shakespeare’s Globe), Inherit the Wind (Old Vic), Arcadia (West End), God in Ruins (RSC/Soho), Macbeth and King John (both RSC). His film and TV work includes Doctor Who (BBC TV), Prime Suspect (Granada) and Hippy Hippy Shake.Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022 . Retrieved 25 February 2020. In addition to previously announced tour dates, new dates have been added at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow in February 2012.

It’s an incredibly well-cast production. The actors are well-matched in their respective incarnations of the couple. The play is directed by Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, and the physical elements, the use of choreography, is superb throughout; the use of movement allows these two versions of the same couple to express themselves. Sian Phillips and Sam Cox in particular show their versatility as performers, undertaking a series of energetic moves that belie their maturity. The use of dance is well judged and works with the text, never overstaying its welcome or distracting from the overall work. a b Lewis, Helen (15 October 2015). "Abi Morgan on Suffragette: "These were voiceless women. We gave them a voice" ". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017 . Retrieved 16 February 2017. LOVESONG sees acclaimed theatre company Frantic Assembly join forces with celebrated writer Abi Morgan for a new play about lifelong love. a b c "Writer Abi Morgan has last laugh at the Emmys". Wales Online. 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013 . Retrieved 23 September 2013.Billed as “a new play about lifelong love”, Lovesong intertwines a couple in their 20s with the same man and woman a lifetime later. Bafta Film Awards 2012: Nominations". BBC News. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012 . Retrieved 17 January 2012.