REVIEW: Love Sicks at The Hope Theatre 31 October – 4 November 2023

Alix Owen • 3 November 2023

‘Delivered with style, bravery, and intelligence’★★★★

 

In Love Sicks, Matthew Dunlop delivers a confident and charismatic performance as Alexis, taking us to the heart of the ambivalence, undertow, and tension in gay love, sex, and desire. It's epitomised in a later scene when a date confesses to him that he has everything Alexis wants – the house, the dog, the husband – but that the only thing that makes him feel alive is the lifestyle that had brought them together, partying and promiscuity.

 

Loosely told through the progression of a disastrous hookup-cum-date, this solo show chronicles Alexis's life from a troubled relationship with his mother through an unhealthy twentysomething romance with an older man. In the present day, he's pushing forty, taken once, being a twink, for granted, and finding value and self-worth in "princess play" with an endless supply of men he meets online.

 

The monologue is a deliciously lyrical word soup, a lubricated stream-of-consciousness slipping between time, place, and logic, using inventive similes and quirky metaphors. It's a quality piece of writing, even if a little difficult to follow at times, though I do like that it leaves you working just hard enough. The situations and punchlines are indeed very funny, and Dunlop gives us a kind of humour that's very difficult to pull off unless it comes naturally, which it clearly does: an acerbic but likeable wit infused through even the most emotional moments.

 

Where it really excels though is in its explosion of the fourth wall, with an expert shifting of perception and perspective, addressing and interacting with the audience, but in such a way that as the scene expands outwards, you realise he's not addressing the audience at all – is he talking to me?! Or himself? Or someone else? It's a pleasantly uneasy effect, complemented by Dunlop's assured and casual style, looking you right in the eye with a wry smile. It's also a difficult thing to achieve using mostly words, but on the whole it's clear and fun when it clicks that he's talking to his cuddly toy, or his mirror, or his date, not really the audience. Or maybe the audience. Who knows? The result is self-referential, leaving you very aware of both the audience and the artifice, but somehow in this production it isn't distracting, and it actually really works. Perhaps it serves to highlight the performative nature of sexual identities, or perhaps it's just Dunlop's style, but either way it was done well.

 

This really is a solo show in every sense of the word, and I was very impressed with how it was pulled off. Dunlop controls everything from the stage, deploying a set of pre-programmed lighting configurations and recorded voice actors. By creating its own kind of meta internal logic and imagination, it appears perfectly natural, pretty much achieving the same effect as if the play had a full technical team. And considering Dunlop is interacting with recordings, the timings are impeccable.

 

Love Sicks isn't necessarily a new story, but it is delivered very well, with style, bravery, and intelligence. The tone it strikes is one that takes a lot of skill. It's dark, complicated, and a little lonely, but somehow uplifting and positive. It serves as a good reminder that though the story might not be new, it's one that still very much needs telling.

 

 

Love Sicks by Matthew Dunlop

Produced by Projekt Antihero

The Hope Theatre, 31 October – 4 November

 

Box Office: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/productions/love-sicks/

 

 

Reviewed by Alix Owen

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