Frantic Assembly review

Frantic Assembly ‘Lovesong’ and 'Stockholm' review

In this review I will be comparing two Frantic Assembly pieces, ‘Stockholm’ and ‘Lovesong’.  Frantic (Assembly) are a well-known Physical Theatre company; and two of their popular pieces are ‘Stockholm’ and ‘Lovesong’.

‘Lovesong’ is a contemporary style play which runs along the theme of a couple in love. The story intertwines both the young version, of the same couple, and the old version with the resurrection of past memories. This piece is deeply emotional and pulls at all your heart strings. It makes you believe in real love and it lasting, which is showed through the different ages of the couple. I think, nowadays, that it’s so rare for a couple to stay together for so long and this is where Frantic wins because, watching ‘Lovesong’ shows you that love does still exist. I believe Frantic created a love themed piece to catch out those who perhaps don’t believe in true love, and if you were to watch it (which I highly recommend) you will be, emotionally changed.

Another strong theme in the, “achingly beautiful”piece (The Independent), is death, which of course is inevitable. Frantic portray death as a very casual subject in the younger version of the couples. It then becomes more and more serious, especially for the old man, as he watches his wife slip away from him with the help of a large quantity of medication. I think that the lady sees it as just keeping herself well, in a way, but the audience are portrayed as knowing better than her as we all understand the issues of overdosing. This style of  acting is similar to those of the Greek Theatre/Tragedy as, in these plays the audiences were often posed with difficult decisions or treated as though they understand more than those who are on stage.

My love for ‘Lovesong’ comes from the clever overlap of time between the couples age ranges, with the subject of the skull. The skull is given to young Bill as a gift from his newly wed wife, and then flowing straight into a scene in which the elderly are clearing the loft and only to discover the same skull they then begin to reminisce the scenario of receiving it. I adore the cleverness of the overlaps because I see it as though, life never stops and then continues to a better part, it just keeps going and you just have to treasure what the good bits and learn from the bad. Which is what I see Frantic trying to interpret through the overlaps in the piece.

‘Stockholm’ is also a contemporary styled play which is energetic and comedic. The themes are similar to ‘Lovesong’; love, emotion, abuse and jealousy. The story is about a young couple who firstly appear deeply in love, which then turns out to be an abusive and difficult relationship. The beginning of the play shows a young, rude and sexual relationship. We then see things turn. In this play, for certain, Frantic are trying to put across a message to the audience about abusive relationships and perhaps how to identify one if need be. As an audience member, the use of the knives always being on set(situated along the wall) told me that this relationship has its ‘ups and downs’ like the point of a knife does. A knife is then used in an intense and heated sequence which, for me, foresees the abuse in the relationship. The intensity between the two characters (Kali and Todd) only appears in the knife scene which to me tells me that their ‘downs’ in the relationship are less frequent but still fierce.

Frantic were influenced by Stockholm syndrome for this play. (A syndrome in which you create a bond with someone, good or bad, and don’t want to leave or escape) Frantic quoted “it was obviously the domestic situation we were interested in here.” This is showed through the fact that Kali never leaves Todd because of the bond formed between them both; even though it is an abusive relationship. “Frantic Assembly comes together like a perfectly designed; flat-pack” (The Guardian) From this I can see that Frantics ‘Stockholm’ message about abusive relationships was very clearly told such as a well-designed flat-pack would be set up.

My favourite part of ‘Stockholm’ is the knife scene/sequence. I love this scene because the atmosphere in the audience is so tense as well as the one on stage. It is very quick paced and breath taking as the knife skims past the skins of the other beautifully. This stage craft, as you would expect, takes a lot of time and a huge amount of practise to deliver it perfectly; just like the perfect flat pack.

Overall, we can see that both pieces are very similar as they both tell a story from the past in the present moment, using different effects of flash backs (a way in which they can tell the audience that this is in the past.) They both are equally emotional but in different ways, ‘Lovesong’ being because of death and happiness of a long lasting love and ‘Stockholm’ being because of an abusive and difficult relationship. And lastly, they both revolve around the themes of Love and Relationships which nowadays, I think, are taken for granted which is why Frantic try to teach us that they shouldn’t be and should be treasured for as long as possible.

I highly recommend watching both of these pieces because they are both truly beautiful to watch in both similar and un- similar ways.