The Mysterious Mr Love, Theatre Royal Nottingham Review
Photo by Whitefoot Photography
Written by Sam for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
The Mysterious Mr Love by Karoline Leach is set in 1914 in Edwardian London and a drab hotel in Weston-super-Mare. Mr George Love (John Goodrum) is a dapper man and a self-described con man with a heart of gold. He’s cocky, knows how to woo the ladies and thinks by marrying innocent, naive women he’ll be richer than rich! Then we have Miss Adelaide Pinchin (Sarah Wynne Kordas), a working-class single woman who has been told on more than one occasion that she needs to stay in the back of her workplace with all of the other ‘ugly’ people.
Adelaide is fortunate to receive an inheritance of £50 as well as her auntie Myra’s brooch and Mr Love is instantly drawn in by her newfound wealth. He does all he can to woo her and within two days, they’re married and venture to Weston-super-Mare for their wedding night. This is where the lies unfold…
Does Mr Love have real feelings for Adelaide after her talking through her life experiences and him showing empathy or will it be another one of his many lies and schemes?
Act One started off very strongly. Both characters were on either side of the stage, taking it in turns to say their parts and here, we’re introduced to Mr Love’s cockiness and deceitful nature whereas Adelaide is more soft and gentle, reminding me a little of My Fair Lady’s Eliza Doolittle. The characters in this show couldn’t be any more different from one another!
There are so many important themes in this production; including, body dysmorphia, mental and physical abuse, crime, deception and romance. Each theme is explored well, and I feel both actors executed their characters’ experiences as though they were their own. In particular, Wynne Kordas showed her character’s vulnerability when she was talking about her body and how her dad had mentally abused her by fat-shaming and starving her. It brought seriousness to the production but also introduced the audience to a side of the character I don’t think any of us expected. I do think Wynne Kordas performance was absolutely fantastic; her accent changes were spot on, and she embraced her character’s background / story.
Although there were comedic moments during the show, I must comment on and commend how dexterous the writer is. The script is extremely clever. This is because the writer has portrayed every single part of Mr Love’s personality as it changes when he’s in certain situations. At the start, we see him charm his way through life by being the crook he’s been since he was 18 and then when he’s in a more intimate setting, he’s an expert in gaslighting and sympathising. Mr Love’s charm tricks you into thinking he’s going to do the right thing by Adelaide, but you will have to go and see the show in order to find out if he can be guided down the right path.
At times, I did find jumping from one conversation to something totally unrelated a little confusing as I didn’t understand how Adelaide knew or had any inclination of Mr Love’s plans or previous encounters. There were quite a few loopholes. This happened a lot in Act Two and I did think it was longer than it needed to be as certain things were repeated and did not necessarily add any impact to the final few scenes.
This production is on until Saturday 31st August and is the final show of The Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season 2024. If you wish to see whether Mr Love finds his true love and happiness, you can buy your ticket here.
★ ★ ★ .5
