Harry and Joan are married, and their relationship reflects many others. It's a solid marriage, but they snipe at one another, or correct one another, and sometimes act as though they're in a constant argument. When Joan criticizes Harry for his comments, his answer is that he's just making conversation. That's part of "Love Story," by John Kolvenbach, which opened Friday as a production of the St. Louis Actors Theatre at the Gaslight Theater.
Lavonne Byers and John Pierson are delightful, their arguments showing a good ear for dialogue by Kolvenbach and fine direction by Jason Cannon on Patrick Huber's two-level set that allows for two apartments.
The other, on the upper level and small as a New York studio, belongs to Beane, a strong portrayal by Aaron Orion Baker. He's Joan's younger brother, definitely disturbed (schizophrenic, one would think) and with a condition exacerbated by the arrival of Molly, richly developed and presented by Sarah Cannon. She's sometimes a villain threatening violence and listing a string of heinous acts, a feat one doubts that a person of her size could accomplish, even with a gun. But that's not important, we're dealing with a play, and with feats of the imagination, and the physical contrast between Cannon and Baker makes for fun.
She also provokes Beane into behaving in ways he does not behave when with his sister and brother-in-law, who worry about making him fit into so-called normal patterns of behavior, and an early confrontation of the two men in terms of what used to be called an "intelligence test" makes for outstanding entertainment.
The play is short (88 minutes) and goes without an intermission, which I think is a mistake; there's a lot going on, and a break in the action would allow an audience time to think about the characters and where they belong, or just to have a drink that might make things a bit easier to comprehend.
Byers and Pierson represent reality, Cannon and Baker are fantasy, and the latter pair's conversations sometimes don't work in the later going. Still, "Love Song" is an interesting play that is quite thought-provoking, with solid direction and acting.
A production of the St. Louis Actors Theatre at the Gaslight Theater through January 24.
–Joe