LUV

LUV takes us back to a far simpler America, when people used to talk to each other, before anti-social media and politics by tweet became possible and now ubiquitous. This is very much the New York of Neil Simon, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, although it was actually written by Murray Shisgal and contains absurdist elements (bursts of song on a suicide bridge) which sets it slightly apart.

In 1965 Mike Nichols won the best director Tony for LUV and (much better known) The Odd Couple. After a very successful Broadway run, there was also a film starring Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk (1967) which flopped. Why all this preamble? Buckland Theatre and the Park have been very brave to revive a piece so much of its time and place in North London and Max Dorey has created a marvellous Manhattan bridge setting in a tiny space. The humour and absurdity still work and it's undoubtedly good for London to finally get to see plays like this which were rarely attempted in their own time.

Unfortunately, it seems difficult for modern British actors to fully inhabit these roles, where comic timing and maintaining a New York accent are so crucial to success. Elsie Bennett as Ellen is the standout here, while Charles Dorfman and Nick Barber rather struggle with the roles of Harry and Mitt. The trouble is that with Lemmon, Matthau and Wilder to compare with, I was left feeling slightly let down.

All credit to Buckland for tackling a clever American period tragi-comedy with considerable gusto. British contemporary kitchen sink tragedy and angst would have been much easier, but it's always good to see something different and remind ourselves how much good writing has come out of our sister city across the Atlantic.