Writer: Lucy Connor-Mulhall
Co-Directors: Lucy Connor-Mulhall and Rachael Lanaghan
Step into a world where love is found in whispered goodnights and unspoken glances — or at least, that’s the intention behind Junk Drawer Theatre Company’s Thank You, I Love You, currently playing at Theatre@41, York. Billed as an exploration of connection — romantic, platonic, and everything in between — the show promises warmth, humour, and aching honesty as it follows a group of characters navigating love, loss, and longing. In practice, however, the result is an underwhelming and sluggish 70 minutes that struggles to reach emotional depth.
The action centres around a cast of six actors, all bedecked in silk pyjamas, and a well-used bed, whose creaks occasionally upstage the actors. The first 15 minutes is filled with seemingly endless business involving sheets, clothes, and bedding. The Characters plait hair, fold and unfold fabric, and read occasion cards with such deliberate pacing that moments meant to feel tender or profound instead verge on tedious. At one point, the audience watches someone eat a pear — a repeated motif that may be symbolic, though its meaning is as unclear as the show’s emotional stakes.
There are indeed glimpses of warmth in the performances of Rachael Lanaghan, Emine Altinsoy, Billy Abbey, Holly Carter, Luke Quarrington and Isobel Pilot, and the intention behind the piece — to find love in the quiet, in-between spaces — is admirable. But the delivery lacks variation or urgency, with characters so indistinct they often feel interchangeable. Fragmented memories and late-night conversations are presented with a sincerity that’s appreciated, but the lack of dramatic contrast leaves little for the audience to hold on to.
The soundtrack consists largely of incessant guitar strumming which grows repetitive quickly, and there is, inexplicably a single use of a bubble machine in one scene that produces more noise than it does bubbles. A few moments of gentle humour offer relief, but they’re fleeting.
Thank You, I Love You clearly strives to be thoughtful and intimate, and there’s a palpable kindness in the way the characters treat each other. But without sharper storytelling or more dynamic pacing, it feels less like a meditation on love and more like being stuck in a loop of well-meaning but forgettable moments.
Runs until 27th July 2025
