Review - Stockholm (Red Stitch)

Before you read the rest of this review, get onto Red Stitch and buy a ticket - fast. It ends on May 26 and you need to see it. Stockholm is, at the heart of it, a study in the repercussions of love and jealousy between two people. On the face of it, Todd and Kali appear to have a perfect relationship. Enjoying many of the checklist items we aspire to in every day life - renovating, travelling, avoidance of ones mother - the couple welcome you into their world with the easy going charm of contented lovers. And yet something is not quite right. A twitch from Kali here, a pause from Todd there. Suddenly, what opens as a love-fest to celebrate Todd's birthday explodes into moments of confusion and despair as they each try hard - and yet ultimately fail - to tip toe around the gaping holes in their relationship. Played with realism and intensity by Luisa Hastings-Edge, Kali suffers from what Todd calls "retro-jealousy" and her journey to justify and explore those feelings - both within herself privately and as one half of what she calls "us" - is as fascinating as it is disturbing. The voice of reason, Todd is seemingly trapped in a never ending web of jealousy woven so cleverly by Kali that you wonder whether he will ever get out of it. Brett Cousins does a superb job depicting the conflict of loving someone who struggles to let trust into their life and the incredible, unspoken burden that it places on the other half. At times Todd seems to almost enjoy the frustration that Kali's web allows them to explore together, and as words, murmurs and movements quickly escalate out of control, it becomes clear to the audience that we are witnessing a cycle. A terrifying one, played over and over again. Cousins and Hastings-Edge are so convincing as a couple that the last scene (where normality is regained and happy faces return) left me concerned for their safety - we know what fate awaits them, they know what fate awaits them, and yet life goes on. Stockholm is terrific theatre for any audience because it contains elements in all our relationships that - sadly - we may recognise in our own. More crucially, it does the two things I feel good theatre should achieve for the average punter - elicit emotion and make them think. It's a hard act to get right. Stockholm nails it. Go. Now. Visit http://theatrevirgin.blogspot.com.au/ for the latest Melbourne Theatre Reviews.