Longevity (Owl & Cat) – theatre review

The ultimate relationship conundrum, Longevity is a love triangle with a difference.

Girl A, a student by the name of Lance (Bee Townsend), meets Girl B, Juliet (Fiona Scarlett), an artist and there is an immediate attraction. They begin a long-term relationship that keeps on keeping on for five years. In the fifth year Girl A meets a Boy, Jess (Brayden Lewtas), a librarian, who shows an immediate interest in her. In no time at all they are in a relationship and Girl A is meeting Girl B at a gallery in a bid to end their long-term romance so she can be with him. But there is more than one surprise in store for this trio, with manipulation the only constant.

Just who loves whom in this true to life game that looks like it can only end badly? To use a cliché, Longevity plays on the adage that maintaining a loving relationship is tricky and is often tested. Then what comes out in the wash isn’t pretty.

Writer and director Thomas Ian Doyle has done a fine job creating a heightened slice of life reality piece that is entertaining, engaging and thought provoking. You see, when this trio isn’t telling each other how much they care for one another they are bickering or hollering with vitriol. The story unfolds through a series of 14 tightly wound vignettes over an hour without interval.

The stage is bare save for a screen, front and centre, above the actors onto which is projected a slow growing foetus that has the appearance of abstract art, reflecting Juliet’s interest. That will certainly resonate with those who venture into The Owl and Cat Theatre to watch Longevity. It becomes a power game and control shifts from person to person as the action unfolds. It appears like all are on quicksand at one point or another, as they are inevitably wrong-footed. This is a very clever and effective device that works and works well, all the more so because of the differing sexual proclivities of the players here – a straight guy, a gay girl and a bisexual girl.

Longevity is semi-autobiographical. When a five-year relationship Doyle had came to end he feared he wouldn’t be able to feel love again. A year on, he did, but the person he fell for was in a relationship with someone else. Longevity is a mix of what actually happened, what Doyle wanted to happen and what could have possibly happened.

Well acted, with energy and passion, it is among the season’s winners for The Owl and Cat Theatre, where it is playing until 2nd September.

Alex First