Love You Until – Not Ready Yet

Comedy, Drama, Queer, New Work http://www.nobleporpoisetheatre.webs.com/

A site-specific show at Circle Point starting at 8:30 pm is a stunningly beautiful location. There is a circle of eight trees and four benches – and a backdrop of water and Vancouver downtown skyline. It's a quiet retreat from the hum of the city on a Friday night as the sun is beginning to set. A small audience gathers to watch two young women perform in Love You Until.

With this new show written by Sylvie LaRiviere and directed by Wren Handman, Noble Porpoise Theatre is revisiting the Fringe after last year's Hero Vs. Sidekick. The show's main gimmick is that apparently the timeline shifts from performance to performance.  On one night the two women will start out in a good place in their relationship as lovers and move towards unhappiness – and then the next night they will begin out miserable and forge a rainbow connection.

Based on this sketchy explanation, I can only surmise that I saw the latter version. Jenny and Liz start out bickering, bitching and carping at each other – kind of like Cameron and Mitchell in Modern Family but not nearly as charming. They have annoying, endless, petty arguments – NOT the fun part of relationships. And what's worse is that neither of these women seems to have any real sense of what it is actually like to be in a relationship. They barely touch each other and have a complete lack of intimacy. There is no connection between the actors – it's like a horrific first date that goes on for hours and hours and hours. When they finally do kiss, it's the fakest kiss I've ever seen.

I think that there may be a real play here but it's hidden under gobs of dialogue. There is so much talking and so little communication. The characters exist in a vacuum of their dysfunctional relationship – I don't know where they work, where they live, who their friends are. They only have eyes (and daggers) for each other. And without a wider context, it is difficult to gain insight into who these people are. Why is Jenny so desperately insecure and neurotic? More importantly, why does Liz want to stay with her? Is she a trust fund baby?

If you want to see a play about a relationship between two women, go see A Beautiful View instead. Written by Daniel MacIvor, this excellent production by Ruby Slippers features Diane Brown and Colleen Wheeler. It plays from September 26 – 29 at SFU Woodwards.

By Allyson McGrane