Love is never easy. When one half of a couple strays, the complications begin. Using a bouquet of red roses that were placed in the circle by Susanna (Julie Thurston), she and Joel (Chris Mohan) moved around within that circle as their relationship blossomed and grew. Both spoke openly about what love meant to them as a couple.
A candid and honest approach.
For a play about love it was slightly confusing in the beginning. As Michelle (Amy Leeson) stood to one side of the stage and as the play progresses you discover who she is – the other woman who Susanna has no idea about. Her monologue discuss how she feels as the misstress, and what love with Joel meant to her.
I found the lack of emotional outbursts somewhat unusual considering the highly emotive situation that the three characters were in, however seeing emotions expressed in a rational understanding made for a refreshing change.
As the title suggests, Darling It's not about you describes exactly what the three-way relationship explores. That love, and what it means, is completely individual to each of the three characters. How you envisage love to be and how long you expect it to last, along with your expectations from the person. All of these were explored in detail.
The dialogue appeared to being spoken as an internal monologue. Breaking through the fourth wall as the ladies explained to the audience how they saw their relationships with Joel.
It had a candid and honest approach with strong matter-of-fact conversations taking place between the cast that you would not have necessarily expected. A very good debut play for director Bethany Fox.
