Love and Money (Oberon Modern Plays)

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As the roles overlap, so does Kelly's script. Many of the scenes are stylised by characters' speech constantly cutting across each other in a natural yet surprising fashion. The play ends with a long monologue from Jess who is overjoyed at having been proposed to. The speech is very philosophical contrasted to the materialistic chatter of before however the future is foreshadowed as Jess claims that now she is going to be married she would like to be a little bit more like the people in the magazines. The production carries a collectively strong cast, but Sara Lloyd-Gregory gives a solid performance as the naïve Jess. She is completely endearing, displaying effortless humour tinged with a hint of self-destruction. Joanna Simpkins is also a stand-out, naturally and skilfully funny. Father when he finds himself resenting an elaborate memorial to a stranger for overshadowing his daughter's grave, he destroys it Some of the meaning of Love and Money may take more than one viewing or reading to come through. However, there is enough to wrestle with at first sight to provoke thought about the rat race and its victims and to make the play well worth a try.

stirred it all in and left it and it clogged up the machine and they all stood around it staring at it, hurt, like

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This is a play about death and Big Ideas and what Ed Miliband might call predatory capitalism, but it’s really funny, too. And I don’t think that’s an accident. The Godfather of modern political theatre Bertolt Brecht believed laughter and fun were essential to the political power of theatre, and this production certainly makes the most of the dark humour which accompanies the vitriolic critique.

Kelly’s constant refracting of the increasingly dominant trauma of debt does gradually lose some impact. However, that’s counterbalanced by his feel for vivid characterization. On the whole the play was generally well reviewed and hailed as a truthful analysis of the destructive nature of materialism receiving 4 stars in The Independent. [5] and Charles Spencer for the Daily Telegraph said;

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It gradually becomes clear that, instead of attempting to save her, he advanced her death because that represented freedom from the debt threatening to engulf them. you have to, you know, despatch them, so I put a cloth over it and I hit it on the head with a cup, a mug,

Dennis Kelly doesn't believe in making life simple for the paying customer. That has been part of the attraction of his contemporary works such as After the End and Osama the Hero, which look at life today from the strangest perspectives. There’s something almost forensic in Kelly’s approach that’s perfectly echoed in Matthew Dunster’s expert production. Its fluidity is accented by Anna Fleischle’s chilly, architectural set, which consists of two white and steel walls full of hidden hatches that flip open to provide everything from concealed cupboards to a hospital bed and even a fish tank. You know the powder, you buy the powder in, while no one was looking I put it into the machine and stirred it all in and left it and it clogged up the machine and they all stood around it staring at it, hurt, like it was a dead puppy. Love and Money builds up into a rather stark picture of Yuppie life today. Its overriding force seems to be neither love nor money but anger, expressed even more forcefully by Jess's parents than the young, once happy couple themselves.

There are some outstanding actors here. Ben Vince’s monologue between gentle, anxious office worker David and the hedonistic French charms of his paramour Sandrine is a stunning start to the show, striking a delicate balance between funny, moving and dark. Performing a monologue of this length chiefly from behind a desk is not easy, but in Vince’s hands, it’s gripping. Annabelle Haworth’s performances could well be professional. Her precision is spot-on, and every line radiates with character, whether playing David’s calculating manager Val, or the shrinking Debbie, sitting in a dodgy bar with the even dodgier Duncan (Paul Norris). Both take their turns at being skin-crawlingly terrifying, with Norris’ low-voiced shows of predatory obsession, and Haworth’s chilling monologue about decorating a Christmas card with a mouse’s guts, among other things. Thorpe’s choice to set up the bar at the start of this scene and then have both set and surrounding actors gradually vanish as it progresses is a stroke of genius, as the intensifying dialogue becomes the only sound and movement onstage, under Jenny Lazarus’s suffocating red lights.

Inventively written to turn what many will see as a dry subject into something more compelling, 'Love and Money' is a long overdue theatrical vehicle to warn us of the burdens of debt, but it also forces us to re-examine what we mean by happiness. Though it's a fine example of social commentary, my ingrained cynicism tells me that it's impact will be lightly felt, if at all, out there in the wider community. Nevertheless, it's a commendable and eminently watchable production with messages that really do matter, and is therefore well worth a visit. We get the measure of this kind of comedy early on from Jess’ parents, played by Billy Gurney and Maria Pullicino, as they reveal their distaste – and envy – for the ‘flash’ and ‘vulgar’ grave of a Greek woman next to their daughter’s. We can only laugh as the Father has his outburst about the price of the headstone (the Mother scorns him for mentioning VAT), but, as they keep saying, they’re not rich. Amongst the taboo humour, and probably the reason why we’re laughing, are the uncomfortable truths of just how hard death is to deal with. And even though we feel we shouldn’t worry about the (financial) cost, death, too, is a business. The spending goes on after Jess.One of the best new plays of the year...One leaves the theatre with the exhilarating certainty that one has encountered a dramatist blessed with both rare skill and a profound understanding of the way we live now." NICHOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "In Matthew Dunster's stylish production Love and Money offers food for uncomfortable thoughts." PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "Stylish production." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "One of the best new plays of the year...One leaves the theatre with the exhilarating certainty that one has encountered a dramatist blessed with both rare skill and a profound understanding of the way we live now." SAM MARLOWE for THE TIMES says, "Sharp, sad new play...searing direction."