The Love Shack review, Theatro Technis

Theatre is a collaborative art. The writer is the designer. On paper he or she creates a Rolls Royce, clearly labelling component parts and listing the preferred specifications. The Director is the engineer who makes it all happen, tinkering here and there until the car purrs like a cat and moves like a cheetah. To direct one's own work is a risk: doubly so when you've not done it before. Which brings us to Daniel Ward Garber's debut play, The Love Shack.

The Love Shack bristles with possibilities, but Ward Garber is so in love with his writing, he has left in scenes and dialogue that an independent director would have blue-pencilled at the read-through. The characters are stereotypes: hard-drinking, coke-snorting hoodlums without a single redeeming feature, and a rich banker whose wealth is expressed not through actions or behaviour but endless references to the cost of his suit and his Ferraris. There is no light and shade in the characterisation,  not a single person in whom one can invest either interest or emotion.

The story, set in The Love Shack a bar on the rough side of town, centres on a stand-off between the two factions. There is a subplot, explaining the presence there of the banker and his girl. This works backwards, but feels tacked on. The winner of the night is the terrific set. Indeed, the production values are in inverse proportion to the dramatic content. There is even a live band, which plays a total of perhaps two minutes. Confusingly, given the action happens in California, it's not surfer music but jazz. Too many missed opportunities.  To compensate, there's dancing and a bar afterwards.

In conclusion: There are some tense moments in The Love Shack - all built around brutal violence and a sexual assault. A young cast works hard but is hampered by limited dialogue and too many twists. Might a seasoned director have worked the material better?  There's enough potential in the ideas to think s/he might.

References
The Love Shack, Tickets

Theatro Technis, 26 Crowndale Road, London NW1 1TT           Run ends 22 November