A Love Affair

An older married couple are cleaning out their attic in the early 1990s, reminiscing about their younger selves through the objects they find lying in boxes. They’re moving because he’s out of a job and their invested nest egg has been embezzled by their trusted financiers. He was a comedy writer, then producer; she is the organiser and the woman who has looked after the money he has earned.

The play explores the past decisions of the couple by presenting two versions of them: the older couple, knowing almost everything about each other, including how to argue (and when not to); and the younger version of themselves, learning about adult life through the experiences and mistakes they make since marrying in the 1950s.

The older version of Jimmy and Alice are played comfortably by two of Adelaide’s community theatre stalwarts: Lindsay Dunn and Lindy LeCornu are familiar to most who have been rewarded by a night in a theatre that’s not part of the Festival Centre. They mesh well here, making us laugh and empathise with their frustrations at growing old, losing their power both in the workplace and the bedroom. They bring the sitcom humour to the stage and have a convincing chemistry.

The younger couple are played by Nick Endenburg and Shanna Ransley, impressive actors in their own right, though with less connection on the stage than Dunn and LeCornu. This isn’t a bad thing at the start, where their uncertainties of early marriage are realistically explored through establishing their roles and identities. Jimmy’s impulse buying and constant demand for sex is countered by her precision and frugality – and both Endenburg and Ransley are natural in showing how they compromise.

All of the other characters in the play – a comedy host, an up-and-coming writer, and a removalist are amongst them – are played by Leanne Robinson, who brings loud laughter in her distinctions between the six.

Indeed, once the first act has warmed us up to how this story will be told, the second permits the jokes and innuendo to hit home much more easily. The writer, Jerry Mayer, has written extensively for US television shows such as M*A*S*H, All in the Family, and Bewitched – and that pedigree (and autobiography) shows through the scenes here, which wouldn’t be out of place on the small screen. Particularly in the second act, their episodic nature even leaves gaps for commercials whilst the actors reset for the next scene.

Director Lesley Reed has assembled a fine cast and guides them well across the single set that serves as several locations throughout the play. It’s cleverly designed by Kym Clayton and Reed so that it’s lighting and the performers on stage that tell us where and when we are. James Allenby’s lights help to guide us around the stage and across time without it being clumsy. The first breakout moment for the fifth performer bathes her in a stark white spotlight against the greys of the set: aside from her skin colour, it’s a wonderful monochrome punch that stands apart from the usual wash of light across the stage.

Galleon Theatre Group know their audience, and A Love Affair is a gentle, adult comedy that makes us laugh and reminisce at our own journeys through love, work, and life.

Mark Wickett