Reviewed by: Oscar Lidgerwood

“My love for you was greater than my wisdom”

To love is to hurt. It’s to break, and to heal. To love is knowing when it’s time to go. Through a striking blend of theatricality and a humane vulnerability, LOVEMACHINE finds a beautiful intimacy beneath the complexities of contemporary relationships, underpinning the timelessness of theatre.

LOVEMACHINE delivers a nuanced mix of classic with a modern flair. This is established upon entrance, with an amalgamation of vintage cloth-bound books adoring the set of blood-red cubes – with, of course, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare clear on display. Paired amongst the haze of projections and writing on the wall, they create an almost liminal sense of time and place, caught amongst the turning of history, and the transitions of adolescence. The players (Lexie Smith and Jude Paddon-Row) only elevate this to the next level. Before the performance had even begun, their presence in the space, complete with clown makeup and Shakespearian ruffs established an uncanniness which had audiences hooked right from the jump. 

Both the writing and direction of Narii Salmon is truly a masterclass in what theatre can be, and what it should be. Salmon possesses an ability to find contemporary muse in the classically beloved writings of William Shakespeare, to then create a fresh canvas from which the players were able to mould, delivering something fresh, captivating, yet still holding onto the timelessness echoed in Shakespeare’s prose. Narii Salmon’s writing possessed all the natural traces of what it means to grow up in contemporary Australia, yet they were able to inject each line with a daring poetry, demonstrating their unique quality to transform the bounds of theatre, creating new territories to tell these timeless stories of paramount importance.

LOVEMACHINE is honest and raw in dealing with relationships and growing up in the twenty-first century. Acknowledging such current issues young people face, it relies on a degree of unity between the text, the actors, and with the audience. Yet, the complete commitment of both actors created a truly intimate atmosphere, a space of play, a space of tragedy, a space that gripped all those involved, allowing those in the audience to walk away considering their own experiences with relationships past and present. Smith and Paddon-Row possess such a captivating allure about their performance, engaging so actively with Salmon’s writing to then establish themselves amongst themselves with such conviction, with every ounce of talent on full display. They shared such a palpable chemistry on stage, it was impossible to not become enthralled in their stories, and equally broken alongside them. Salmon’s direction invited us to fall in love with the players’ connection on stage, and were taken and captured on the LOVEMACHINE journey, one we did not wish to end.

LOVEMACHINE does not shy away from the truth, nor does it create a melodramatic dramatisation of the brutal realities of our world. Salmon delivers a poignant spectacle of theatre to explore the tragic nature of contemporary relationships in an honest way, and through the players’ vulnerable confession we are left to confront our own difficult truths.