Review: SUMMER SOLSTICE, Union Theatre

What is love? Is it even real? Is it made of cheese? Or is it merely a triviality; a figment of our imagination?

It's a question that has plagued philosophers and poets for as long as humans have existed. Unfortunately, we are no closer to finding any meaningful answers to these questions in Mel Masry's shallow and unsatisfying play.

Masry asks this question over and over again in Summer Solstice, a play that features Theo (Masry) and Alba (Anya Fedorova), who meet and fall in love in an Italian restaurant in the year 2000. However, they are both already in other relationships. They swear to meet once a year on the same day in summer. The story is narrated by waiter Leon (Tim Dankert), who has his own aspirations of becoming a writer.

The production never delves any deeper than surface-level. There's virtually no substance to either of the characters and their backstories are treated as superficially as everything else.

Theo's wife is an alcoholic and they have to spend a fortune on rehab, which hinders his desire to become a rockstar. Meanwhile Alba, an aspiring lawyer, is in a loveless relationship with an already established lawyer. For each year that we witness their relationship (and there are two decades worth of meetings), they give a brief update, and that's that. No reflection on what their lives are like. Nothing on the meaning of love, or on the difficulties of attachment.

The plot never goes into depth. They're in love with each other, not with their spouses, but the plot has decided from the get-go that there's no way out. The only real reflections on love come from the waiter, who comments on their relationship after each 'year', and they are as cheesy and clichéd as they come - such as the simile that love is like a wave, or that when one partner is upset, the other must carry them.

The dialogue is often comedic when it doesn't mean to be. The jokes, unfortunately, are not: there's an overlong and deeply unfunny gag about the bread being three years old. Theo frequently criticises the waiter for the shoddy food they're getting, but he just comes off as unpleasant and the waiter as incompetent.

The acting is equally unbalanced. Masry's voice is surprisingly quiet to the extent that he's sometimes overpowered by Aidan Butler's sound design, quite a contrast to Dankert's loud and booming voice. Fedorova's volume is just about right, though she tends to murmur slightly, making her no easier to listen to.

These issues are clearly due to a lack of directing but are often so basic that they could (and should) be addressed quickly. This also includes individual plot points. At one point, waiter Leon is fired from his job, but he doesn't seem all that fazed despite mentioning not being able to pay the rent and - gasp - witness the future of the couple's relationship.

So does the question about the nature of love ever get answered? Not really. When there's nothing to explore, the issues always remain on the surface and the characters don't seem to care. The dialogue is wobbly, even if the space at the Union Theatre is pleasant, intimate, and does provide good vibes. Perhaps better to give this one a miss.

Summer Solstice is at the Union Theatre until 25th June.

Photo Credit: Union Theatre