Review: STRATEGIC LOVE PLAY, Soho Theatre

Miriam Battye’s hilariously brutal and dark dissection of modern relationships - from tentative beginnings over a pint to their varied ends - returns to Soho Theatre for its second run in less than a year. 

We first meet Woman (Letty Thomas) and Man (Archie Backhouse) as they stare at each other across a pub table, their pints of frothy beer positioned between them. From her bullish opening salvo of “shall we hold hands and start promising shit now and skip this bit, yes?”, it’s clear that, rather than choosing between bear and man, she has instead gone for becoming the bear with her sharp claws slicing through that awkward Gordian knot of true love: the first date. 

He, on the other hand, is unsure of what to make of her bold confrontational approach and is not so much laidback as practically horizontal. “I want to relax,” he says. “I want to be relaxed. I want to think about the fact that I might be able to relax.” Her response could scrape the enamel off his teeth: “No! Fuck no! I don’t want to go for walks and use and re-use those metal foil serving trays all my life. I want to tear someone apart!” Further along this rocky road full of revelations, a curious compromise is reached and an unusual happy ending comes into sight - or does it?

This odd couple measure the progress and success of the date in the same pints they cling onto like life jackets. One pint to establish the societal basics - name, location, job - and the second to decide whether to stay in the pub and find out more or run back to a cosy sofa and a night of more swiping. Woman pushes for a third, Man pulls away but, as more and more of the booze slips down, the emotional armour falls away and both share why they are really here for and - spoiler - it is not (just) love and sex. 

As the story editor for the final season of Succession, Battye is no stranger to twisty tales of deception and ambition. Produced by Paines Plough, Strategic Love Play wastes no time in putting one of the most puzzling aspects of the human condition under the microscope. Dating profiles are rarely complete without some mention of what their writer is looking for from a partner but, when it comes to the crunch, what are the must-haves and what is up for negotiation? Which behaviours and characteristics are we willing to put up with in order to have someone else in our life? And why do we want what we want?

The witty back-and-forth is fresh and captivating, shorn of the usual cliches and tired tropes; she doesn’t (just) want a ring on her finger and he’s not here for (just) a casual encounter. Phantom onlookers - friends, family, their future selves - are the ever-present Banquos at this bonfire of vanities. Katie Posner’s direction maintains the intensity of rounds of quickfire conversations while allowing the characters space to breathe and think in between. Set designer Rhys Jarman’s circular table is about as close to obvious metaphor as we get, pointing to the revolving discussion and that both have been on this merry-go-round before and will likely do so again (and again). It’s the circle of life in miniature: hopes and dreams are born, nurtured and die on this beer-stained altar, sacrifices to those capricious gods of lust and longing.

Strategic Love Play continues at Soho Theatre until 15 June.

Photo credit: Pamela Raithe Photography

To post a comment, you must register and login.