Review: 2 Lovers A Comedy About Heartbreak

Reviewed by Gert Griessel

Photography by: Phillip Khun

“The wrong people at the right time”. The line stuck with me in the beautiful, dimly lit Theatre on the Square as everyone in their seats was engrossed in a moment of contemplation that rendered the room quiet in each individual’s own experiences of “that breakup”.

The most endearing thing about my experience watching 2 Lovers was the laughter. The way the expertly written dialog made the audience burst uncontrollably at a confession of a thought, or the strategic drop of an f-bomb that managed to find undeniable comedy in a person’s behavior during the spiraling of a faltering relationship.

The direction at the hands of Craig Morris manages to transport us through the years of this couple’s highs and lows without the journey feeling predictable or stagnant at any point.

The play is about the relationship between Dave and Annebel. Characters expertly portrayed by accomplished actors Ter Hollmann and Tessa Jubber. The pair had captured every audience member from the start as we saw ourselves in their idiosyncrasies and interactions.

They capture our allegiances from one scene to the next. Rooting for the person we most relate to in the moment.

Tessa Jubber meticulously builds a character with so many layers that she manages to make you feel sorry for her one moment, and fall in love with her the next. And almost despise her thereafter. She remains utterly relatable, even at (Especially at) her character’s lowest moments. It’s in all honesty nothing short of award-worthy.

Ter Hollmann, who had also written 2 Lovers moulds Dave into an instantly loveable character who fumbles his way through life’s complicated situations with words chosen from excessive overthinking but still manages to trip over them. They are making for wonderful moments of surprise at what flies out of his mouth in almost every scene. Ter shows the emotional mountain tops and dark valleys some men experience at the hands of the women they love with grace and charisma.

The chemistry between the actors as they show their insecurities, ebbs and flows of emotion, and in the occasional moment, flawed beauty is simply spectacular. I forgot that I was watching a work of fiction and relived many of my own heartbreaks and experienced, a sense of inevitable catharsis watching the play.

This play is something that I believe every single person who has experienced a breakup or the loss of their first love should go and see. Which, in other words, means. I believe that everyone should see 2 Lovers. If for no other reason than, it will make you appreciate the good times and the bad. It will help you look at your partner sitting next to you and value the time you have with them just that little bit more. And maybe, it will help you be “The right people at the right time”