Review: Sweetheart, Lion and Unicorn Theatre

From early on in Sweetheart it’s obvious where it is leading. Because, as delightful as this couple are on the surface, the darkness which they don’t even try to hide from us can only mean one thing; their comeuppance is not too far away. And that’s perfectly fine if the route there is this enjoyable.

Robert Wolfe (also the writer) and Becky Dueck are a couple who initially appear to be your normal 1960s husband and wife. He even has a rather middle-aged cardigan to reinforce that fact, whilst she is forever in her pinny, fussing around cleaning and offering cups of tea. They also have very 60s monikers of ‘Honey’ and ‘Sweetheart’, their real names never divulged. Except they are anything but normal, as we discover when very quickly talk turns to their true passion; brutally murdering innocent strangers lured to their B&B. They form a perfect couple: he brings the senseless violence whilst she has the cunning and planning to ensure they never get sloppy and risk being caught.

Their power dynamic is constantly shifting, meaning we’re never quite sure who really is in control, and leaving us to wonder which of them is going to make the fatal mistake that brings on their inevitable demise. When she says “control the blade and let the knife do the work” at first you feel she is in control and he is the knife, and yet that dynamic switches throughout, leaving things less clear.

Wolfe and Dueck deliver a wonderful back and forth as they plot and plan and fulfil each other’s bloodlust. Their initial domestic bliss exudes from the stage as they savour the thought of another murder.

It’s assisted by a set that further cements that idea of normality, the stage decked out as a 1960s living room, even down to the telephone on the sideboard. Sophie Kettle Smith’s directing then expands their world beyond the set. Doors are used to give the feel of a home, whilst sound is cleverly used, with muffled screams and thuds making it very clear what is happening “upstairs”.

Even when their next proposed victim, Tom (Samuel Oakes), arrives and Sweetheart begins to act rather oddly, it further reinforces the belief of where this is all heading. Clearly Tom is going to be their downfall, the only question is how? Is he another murderer? Is he an old acquaintance of Sweetheart, or just another innocent person in the wrong place at the wrong time?

And unravel it all does. Except – well, you should never trust initial assumptions in fringe theatre because it’s always likely you are going to be utterly wrong. Wolfe’s script cleverly sets everything up to take you by surprise. In hindsight, the clues are all there, so much so that a second viewing feels needed to spot how obvious it all should have been.

Where the play slightly falters is in its latter pacing. The introduction of Tom should set the conclusion in motion much quicker than it does. The quick fire first half suddenly slows to a plod and threatens to derail the good work set up. Snappier scenes here would greatly help.

Come the end those initial assumptions are well and truly destroyed and everything that you believed the play was going to be is redefined. The conclusion turns an already fascinating show into something even greater as you take in what you were really witnessing.

Written by: Robert Wolfe
Directed by: Sophie Kettle Smith
Produced by: Sweetheart Theatre Company
Intimacy Coordinator: Fifi Benham
Technical Manager: Daniel (Wiggles) Stephens

Sweetheart has completed its current run.