Review: LOVE DANCE, Chiswick Playhouse

Rose returns home from a spell in the USA only to find her tenant, Adam, in her bathroom, a spliff under her sofa and his guitar propped against the sitting room wall. It's all a big mistake, but Adam, the mellow musician, has nowhere to go and Rose, the driven doctor, can't bring herself to throw him out, so the odd couple must share a roof.

As they get to know each other, Adam turns out to be less of a slob and more of a dancer and Rose turns out to be less of a career girl and more of an aspirant mother - not wannabe wife, not wannabe partner, not wannabe girlfriend, just wannabe mother. But if she is to realise her dream, she'll need more than a dancing partner - she'll need a man, even if it's for but a few fleeting moments. Now, who could that be?

The set-up of Andy Walker's two-hander feels passé (though, to be fair, who doesn't know a pair of housemates thrown together by lockdown who are now an item?) but he piles on the charm and is rewarded by winning performances from Jacoba Williams and Derek Murphy. Even if we know we're we're going with the pair, director Lesley Manning provides an easy watch and a fair share of, if not quite laughs, then gentle smiles.

The play's fault lies in the mismatch between its down-to-earth characters (you don't often hear a Brummie accent as strong as Rose's on the London stage) and the leaps of faith required by the plot. I'm not sure our sensible doctor would breach medical ethics so readily in a key scene and Adam's reconciliation with his bandmate and consequent instant success is a little too glib. In a character-driven comedy, the plot elbows in somewhat gracelessly.

Not every comedy has to break new ground and if this show merely underlines something we've all known for years - the rom-com's laughter mine has been exhausted - it's funny and poignant enough to provide an ideal "date play" (if such a thing exists). Not so much Netflix and Chill as Chiswick and Chill - but perhaps wait until you get home.

Love Dance is at Chiswick Playhouse until 27 November

Photo Molly Manning Walker

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