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Where shall I begin? I first saw Love Story when I was about 10. It flickered on our 12-inch black and white Sony TV, while I snuggled warmly into our worn honey-coloured sofa. I felt very grown up. My parents let me stay up to 11 pm to watch the end, having previously debated whether or not I was too young for the content (plot spoiler: the main character dies of leukaemia). By the end of the evening, I remember hiding my face behind a cushion, trying very hard not to let my older brothers see my tears. I think that was the first time I had such a strong emotional reaction to a film.
Love Story is the famous tale about the short relationship between Jenny Cavelieri, the daughter of an Italian restaurateur, and Oliver Barrett, the son of very wealthy Massachusetts socialites. Oliver goes to Harvard and Jenny earned a music scholarship to Radcliffe. It's so 70s East Coast I love it. She calls him preppie (and swears a lot, that must have been edited out of the television version) and he falls (very hard) for the beautiful and feisty collegiate. The story weaves love and bereavement, class and family tension. Predictably, the rich boy does not get on with his parents, and presumes they don't think his fiance is good enough for him. Now that I'm a middle-aged adult and a parent, I can see that perhaps Oliver's father was just a wee bit worried that he was too young to be married. It's a dysfunctional family relationship, and most of us can relate to that on some level.
The newly weds are cut off from Oliver's rich parents, but emotionally supported by Jenny's pizza-making father. You can feel the love in the fantastic pasta scene, where the financially struggling couple make due by eating mastochelli each evening. Jenny's health deteriorates as the musical progresses, I'm not going to tell you what happens in the end, you already know.
Because of the constraints of the stage, the story get squeezed into fewer scenes, but it is done seamlessly. It amazes me how sets can change from an office, to a formal dining room, to a kitchen to hospital bed with just a tables moved, flowers brought in and some tweaks to lighting. The music also ties the story together. Disappointingly, the famous song Love Story (which I played for my first piano recital) only make one short appearance.
By the end of Love Story on Stage I was discreetly wiping my tears away (and so was my theatre-going friend). The inspiring love story strongly comes through and it was an eye-opening experiencing it as an adult, rather than an idealistic preadolescent. And after the show I wanted to go out for pasta and buy a stripey college scarf.
Love Story on Stage is playing at the Duchess Theatre in London.
