Review: Love Song at ArtsWest Theatre
A delightfully funny and laugh out loud comedy, Love Song has opened in Seattle at the ArtsWest Theatre. This is the Seattle premiere of John Kolvenbach’s play which is directed by Kate Witt. The play had its world premiere in March 2006 at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.
This was my first visit to ArtsWest in West Seattle and it’s probably not news to a lot of folks who love this venue how well adapted the seating and stage is, allowing such intimacy between the audience and the actors. This staging works particularly well for this production, because it is all about love.
The marital love relationship between Joan (Heather Hawkins) and her husband Harry (Nick DeSantis) is pretty much like anyones. They work hard and relax at home with a few drinks. Joan is a demanding type A person, both at work and at home with her husband Harry. She expects her interns to do the basic tasks in her office. But when she comes home from the office and vents her frustrations to Harry about her latest intern I started to see the spirit, humor and love between the couple as Joan related all the day’s events to Harry. And Harry’s response could be right out of the playbook for what occurs in a great many conversations between husband and a wife. This is acting at its finest, dialogue driven and made me want to observe this couple’s interaction even more.
When we first meet Joan’s brother, Beane (Christopher Zinovitch), whose performance as an “oddball” is emotionally moving, it is hard to know what to think. He is withdrawn and you soon find out he has little interaction with others, except with his sister, Joan and with Harry. This all changes for Beane when his apartment is broken into by Molly (Heather Hawkins), a tough thief and fighter. I felt it would take a very special person to fall in love with Molly. She even made me jump a bit in my seat with her outbursts toward poor Beane.
But like I stated earlier, this play is about love. And when Beane falls in love with Molly everything changes. This is the beauty of the play. With words and actions Beane and Molly blossom into a couple capable of expressing their love for each other. Beane changes into a person who is able to converse with everyone including complete strangers. This play makes you think about the wonderful nature of love. It brings about a warmer marital sexual activity between Joan and Harry when they both decide to call in sick and stay home from work. The play offers some revelations about understanding what is reality.
Half of the set is Joan and Harry’s well appointed living room. The other half of the set is Beane’s bleak all beige living room. That means the lighting plays an important part of this production moving smoothly from place to place.
This is Kate Witt debut as a director and with this romantic comedy she is off to a wonderful start. This production is worth going to see anytime. I did enjoy Love Song and believe it is like a valentine card; enchanting yet funny, and makes you think about and appreciate love in all of its various forms.
Love Song plays now through February 21, 2010 at ArtsWest in West Seattle. Tickets are $32 but $10 tickets are available for patrons under 25-years-old. For more info and tickets, visit www.artswest.org.
– Ethel W.
