Love is back, perhaps. The latest Janus International Theatre’s play is worth at least a temporary resurrection. Love Now and Then is a thoughtful, nicely written script with an interesting ‘clash of ideologies’ central storyline.

Mia (Francesca Bragagnolo) and Joel (Christopher Adrian) are two ‘modern’ and ‘practical’ students in London who find themselves in a relationship that appears to have no strings attached. When Art graduate Mia decides to go to India, the young lovers even throw a break-up party. But it soon becomes increasingly evident that despite their contemporary urban brains and pragmatic approach to life, there are still underlying feelings they can’t get rid of. It sounds like any other soppy/melodramatic/bromidic love story in sitcoms?

Maybe so, but the sum is less than the parts here. It’s the stories of Mia-Joel and Elizabeth-Ronan taken individually that render a compelling indictment to the ‘clash of ideologies’ I was referring to; to the fact that behind our robotic manners and hypertech pretence lies the same old drives and needs that make us what we are: humanus primas. My point being that nobody wants to miss his/her chance at true love, do they?

That’s the message old Ronan (Carlos Mauricio), a romantic Irish bar owner, tries to convey throughout the play. In his attempts to convince Joel to go back to Mia, old Ronan tells his story as a young man (played by Fredrik Vantomme) who falls in love with Elizabeth (Kumiko Aimatsu), who was pre-arranged to marry someone else. The story of young Ronan runs parallel to the main story of Mia/Joel. And Ronan’s quixotic tips pay off as the endings are happy in both stories.

This is a good play told and performed simply. But I’m not sure whether another boring party scene as first act was a clever move. It challenges the viewer’s respect and makes it difficult to go along with the program. Overall actors are good, with enthusiastic gravitas to spare. Nice surprises are Francesca as Mia, and Fredrik who adds a Chaplin tone to his character. There’s a much larger message inside this urban Romeo and Juliet. For one, perhaps the notion that true love is worth more than just getting your section browsed now and then. But, of course, you’re a winner if you can have both. |