I Love You, Now What? – Park Theatre, London

A tender tale of love and grief, I Love You, Now What? draws on personal experience to convey a message of hope.

I Love You, Now What?

The only certainties in life are death and taxes.  So the saying goes.  One is a necessary inconvenience.  The other can turn your entire existence upside down.  But are any of us really prepared when we are forced to confront mortality head on?

I Love You, Now What? poses just this question.  Written by and starring Sophie Craig, it is the story of Ava, who attempts to navigate new love with Theo (Andy Umerah) while dealing with her father’s illness and death from cancer.  For what is undoubtedly a very serious topic, Craig’s writing finds the light as well as the shade.  From their first awkward meeting to the closing scenes, Ava and Theo are a sweet and well-matched pair.  Dad Neil (Ian Puleston-Davies) can see how happy she is long before Theo is officially introduced.  But as Neil’s health declines and especially after his death, Ava struggles to cope with her overwhelming grief without pushing Theo away.  Will their relationship survive?

The Edinburgh Fringe is underway again, and I Love You, Now What? had a successful run there in 2023.  Back down South at London’s Park Theatre some changes have been made, but it’s still a reasonably spare production, with Puleston-Davies doing double duty as grief counsellor John, for instance.  This mostly works, but there are a few times I wasn’t 100% sure which role he was in until he spoke.  The Northern flat cap does help, though.

Similarly the set, comprised mostly of a piano that comes apart into segments, works for the most part.  I took it to represent the fragmenting of Ava’s sense of self and identity under the weight of grief, but again it was occasionally a little hard to parse the intent.  I appreciated the risk in using this weighty object as stand in for other props like a bed, but did wonder if the addition of something a little softer might have given Puleston-Davies more options in depicting illness on stage.

A Production With Plenty of Promise

There is much to like about this production. One thing that stood out to me as particularly good, for instance, was the lighting.  What Pablo Fernandez Baz does to evoke flickering TV and the soft light of stained glass is very effective, and does help to overcome the heaviness of the piano.  I also really liked Umerah in his role as Theo and his chemistry with Craig: he imbues the character with a real warmth and genuine charm even as his uncertainty over how to support his partner sees him push Ava too far. If the play continues to evolve, these are amongst the elements I would love to see retained.

Craig has worked with and supports bereavement charity Cruse. There was plenty of evidence on press night of its strong emotional impact, including an option to take a tissue from the usher as we left.  Perhaps the slightly too neat ending is a necessary part of this message of hope and solidarity? And let’s not forget this is also a story which hit very close to home for Craig, who lost her father in 2019.  The ability to turn this pain into art and to connect with those emotions night after night shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Hopefully Craig will continue in this way to become, as she puts it, “part of someone else’s survival guide”.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

I Love You, Now What? on until 24 August 2024. More info and tickets here.