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A QPAC Brisbane Festival Production. Canberra Theatre Canberra Theatre Centre September 24-27 2025. Bookings: 62752700.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
At a time of global conflict Trent Dalton’s Love Stories provides a welcome panacea. Dalton's collection of uplifting accounts of the extraordinary lives and loves of ordinary people offers a salutary affirmation of the healing power of Love and the promise of Love’s triumph over the struggles and the challenges that life presents. In bringing Dalton’s stories to the stage, the Queensland Theatre Company and Brisbane Festival with writer Tim McGarry and director Sam Strong have staged a joyous celebration of Love’s enduring triumph over adversity and suffering.
In his search for a meaning for Love, Dalton, equipped with the gift of an old Olivetti typewriter sat on a corner in Brisbane’s CBD and invited passersby to stop and tell him a story about the role love played in their lives. The result was astounding. Dalton’s simple request to be told a love story released a flood of emotions. Some warmed the heart. Some were told through a stream of tears. Some were filled with regret, some with hope. Some faced hardship and pain but with a courage to overcome life’s hardship.
What emerges is the resilience of the human heart and in the labyrinth of human experience the many meanings of Love and the conquering spirit of Love that can bring joy, bring hurt, fill the heart with unbridled joy, reveal the truth and heal the spirit. Each life is extraordinary ,each experience unique; each expression of love revealed in different ways. Dalton’s characters are real people. Their understanding of Love is defined by their experience. The way in which love shapes their life is real and different. It is the fear felt by a parent who must let his daughter lead her own life. It is the love that gives strength to a woman to rebuild her life after the devastating floods. It is the love of a grandmother for a grandson or the painful love of separation to allow an actress to follow her dreams. In McGarry’s sensitive and loving adaptation it is also the love that must prevail in his private life. It is the love that every member of the audience will recognize, though each experience will be their own. It is this power of identification that makes Dalton’s novel, McGarry’s adaptation, Strong’s direction and the company’s performances so successful. The use of videos to project in close up the people on the rear screen of the Canberra Theatre gives a deeply personal effect to each character’s story.
One is moved to tears by Josh Creamer’s account of the impact of the Stolen Generation and domestic violence on his people. Now a barrister, his story inspires with the account of his mother’s survival and admittance by her son to the Supreme Court after attaining a law degree. This and the story of Rochelle’s triumph over her heroin addiction lend deeper meaning to the power of Love. A pelvic huig session has the audiemce in hysterics. Love is in the tears that fall and the laughter that rings out acrposs the air. The late John O’Hagan’s esteemed science career could find no specific definition for Love. As the song says “Love is in the air, everywhere you look around.”
At the beginning of the performance the audience is reflected on the large screen and people’s definitions appear on the screen. They have been collected from a range of people in the ACT, Bungendore, Googong and interstate. At the end of the show, in an unashamedly sentimental act, the drummer, who serves as a narrator/philosopher opens a door onto a scene of Lake Burley Griffin. Love is where the home is. And it is Love that must heal the rift between Dalton and his wife, brought about by his obsession. And it is Love that will make that healing possible.
The production closes with a dance of celebration to the wonder of Love. Love Stories is a testament to Dalton’s talent to touch the human heart and reveal Love’s many meanings. It is a triumphant celebration of resilience and optimism in the face of adversity. Strong’s effervescent production fills the heart with profound joy and an enthusiastic cast play out Dalton’s scenarios with fervour and relish.
Directed by Sam Strong. Additional Writer Fiona
Franzmann Associate Director & Ensemble Member Ngoc
Phan Choreographer & Movement Director Nerida
Matthaei Composer & Sound Designer Stephen Francis Lighting
Designer Ben Hughes Set & Costume Designer Renee
Mulde Video Design & Cinematographer Craig
Wilkinson Intimacy Coordination Nerida
Matthaei and Michala Banas
CAST
Rashidi Edward – Jean Benoit
Jason Klarwein – Husband
Anna McGahan – Wife
Valerie Bader – Ensemble
Hsin-Ju Ely – Ensemble
Joss McWilliam – Ensemble
Ngoc Phan – Ensemble
Bryan Probets – Ensemble
Will Tran – Ensemble
Jacob Watton – Ensemble
Antony Dyer – Camera Operator
Production
shots David Kelly
