Theatre / Alma Tavern and Theatre
Review: My Soulmate’s Husband’s Soulmate, The Alma Tavern & Theatre – ‘engagingly entertaining’
Imagine that one day the world wakes up to a strange new phenomenon. A mysterious viral explosion has apparently infected everyone to the extent that some people suffer a strange tugging feeling in their chest. Apparently, nothing will ever be the same again.
No, it’s not the global coronavirus pandemic, but something known as #Souldate, when everyone on earth is suddenly aware that their true soulmate is out there somewhere and all you must do to find everlasting happiness is track them down and fall immediately in love.
Mudlarks Theatre Company’s My Soulmate’s Husband’ Soulmate (MSHS) takes us through one couple’s experience when a stranger, the Norwegian Johan, suddenly pitches up on the doorstep one day and announces that he is Erin’s soulmate.
is needed now More than ever
My Soulmate’s Husband’s Soulmate – photo: Mudlarks Theatre
The husband in question is Adrian (Ryan Harris) who poses the basic conundrum. What happens to those who thought that they were already quite happily in love but now find that they are superfluous and that three is definitely a crowd?
The play is a curious piece that explores what lengths people will go to find contentment and, perhaps obliquely, even what love actually is. For many including Johan (played with a Nordic coolness by Nick Edgeworth), it is a painful sensation that only eases when he finally comes face to face with his beloved, Erin (MSHS’s writer Gina Thorley).
Before the curtain goes up the musical overture includes a number of songs about love including A Thing Called Love by Johnny Cash, which ponders the mystery of why people fall for others. It includes the lyrics ‘It can lift you up, Never let you down, Take your world and turn it all around’ and that is certainly what happens to poor old Adrian.
He thought he was happily married to Erin and, as he says, certainly looks a more fitting partner for her than the slightly built Johan. But suddenly, bang, it’s all over.
Ensemble, My Soulmate’s Husband’s Soulmate – photo: Mudlarks Theatre
There is something very reminiscent of classic 1950’s Sci Fi movies which is appealing as we imagine a brave new world.
The cast of five, who directed the show themselves, move things along with a series of vignettes until we get to the crux of the story when the gruesome threesome set off on a road trip to find Adrian’s soulmate.
The piece is very much a light bittersweet comedy which touches on a darker side when Adrian finally finds his beloved, but on the way there is a fair amount of repetition and some of the performances are too heavy handed.
At times there is a forced farce which doesn’t allow the main narrative to flow as it could, and the odd drastic comedic shifts betrays the sensation that there were too many hands steering.
MSHS is at its best when we see the developing relationships between Adrian, Erin and Johan evolve, and we learn what makes people tick – and what ticks their boxes.
There are good observations about how boring life will be if chance is taken out of the dating game, but ultimately the piece fails to deliver a real message.
However, MHSH is engagingly entertaining, and there is a good deal in Gina Thorley’s writing that promises much for the future.
My Soulmate’s Husband’s Soulmate is at The Alma Tavern and Theatre on April 12-13 at 8pm. Tickets are available via www.tickettailor.com.
Main photo: Mudlarks Theatre
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