Selected Recordings of Us – The Rosemary Branch, London

Writers: Gabriele Uboldi & Georgia Louise Luckhurst

Director: Gabriele Uboldi

How do you capture a memory? How do you recall the highs and lows of a relationship if both of your memories are distorted? When a couple decide to piece together the fragments of their history after a break up, the results surprise them. Their recollections of the past are completely different to each other, so combining to create a single script is almost impossible, pushing them further apart.

Writers Gabriele Uboldi and Georgia Louise Luckhurst have collaborated together on a non-linear script that delves into the intricacies of relationships and personal insight. The storyline is heavy with philosophy and poetic interactions between the two main characters, but considering the wordy monologues and in-depth discussions, there is very little substance to hook the audience and invite them to share the vision the writers have created. Performing the script almost as a conceptually creative piece instead of a play makes the whole thing artsy, but empty, disappointingly missing the mark for the audience to really engage with the characters on a topic that many can align with.

Performers Anna McKelvie and Sojourner Hazelwood-Connell, are both energised on stage, working well with the concepts and ideas that arise from opposing recollections. They both portray warmth and relatability within their characters, making the audience wish that there were a stronger narrative thread that presented the stages of their relationship less ambiguously.

The most interesting part of the performance comes from the improvised audience participation that occurs at various intervals throughout the hour-long show. Before entering the theatre space, audience members are asked to write on a card using the headline ‘I remember the time you…’ It is this intrigue of the unknown from the fellow audience members that creates the biggest buzz in the room, with everyone wondering who it was that got left at the altar, or who loves dancing in the rain with their partner.

Unfortunately, as intriguing as the cue cards are, they are few and far between. These semblances of sociological excitement are lost in between mismatched scenes of reminiscing, repetition and retorts, meaning the performance struggles to get past the pretentious and elevate into a well-layered narrative.

Runs until 23 April 2022