'Love, Love, Love' review

A high-quality show that focusses on the generation who have shaped the last 60 years, writes Steve Davis.

OUR VERDICT

The journey of the Baby Boomers from the freedom and idealism of the late 60s to the capitalistic ‘Greed is good’ era of the 80s is well documented. More recently, that generation has been rebuked and derided by the very offspring that they produced.

Nowhere has this odyssey been more entertainingly juxtaposed than in Mike Bartlett’s play Love, Love, Love.  We first meet Ken and Sandra (the uniformly excellent Nicholas Burns and Rachael Stirling) in 1967 when the 60s were well and truly swinging. The Beatles were on the TV and telling us all we needed was love.

Ken is freeloading off his older ‘square’ brother Henry (a super, tight-lipped performance from Patrick Knowles). Henry has invited Sandra over hoping to assuage his carnal desire, but when Sandra meets the younger brother all bets are off. They immediately recognise the same ‘free spirit’ in each other. They share the same passion for music, travel, dancing, marijuana and indeed each other, so much so that the elder brother unable to keep up.

We next encounter Ken and Sandra in 1990 at their family home on the M4 'corridor' (“We live in Reading for God’s sake!”). They have two children, Rose 16 (a wonderfully grumpy and despondent performance by Isabella Laughland) and Jamie 14 (Mike Noble captures the confusion of the boy and then the vulnerability of the man expertly).

Ken and Sandra are quite frankly awful parents. Their smoking and drinking, constant rowing and inattention to their children needs make for a fractious household. A shocking admission on the evening before Rosie’s 16th birthday leads to an inevitable conclusion.

Our final meeting with the family comes in 2011 when they gather for a family funeral. Jamie is indulged by his father and can only function in a stress-free environment. Rose is disillusioned with what her life has become and blames her parents for their part in that. They, however, reject this notion and continue to be self-absorbed and smug about their achievements.

Love, Love, Love is a high-quality production all round. As well as the excellent performances from the cast of five the sets – of which there are three, designed by Joanna Scothcher – are superb and the way that they are propelled forward at the beginning of each act pushes the audience into the action immediately.  

Similarly, the direction (Rachel O’Riordan), lighting and sound design (Paul Keogan and Simon Slater respectively) are all top drawers. And while it was a slight leap of faith to believe that Ms Stirling and Mr Burns were 19-years-old, credit should also be given to those responsible for hair, make-up and costumes.

This is a wonderful production about a generation who grew up with the optimism of the 60s and then settled into the home-owning, final salary pension middle age of 90s and 00s. They aren’t all bad but their children may beg to differ.

• Venue: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
• Dates: Every day except Sundays until 4^th April at 7.30. Matinees Wednesdays at 1.30 and Saturdays at 2.30 (book here)

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