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Polyamory: participation in multiple and simultaneous loving or sexual relationships.

Take six hearts, minds and bodies, mix well, and enjoy a comedy of contemporary manners with a sexy and intriguing difference.

If you've ever thought having one relationship was hard work, see what happens when love goes six ways.

Reviews:

"Fortunately, and this is undoubtedly the play’s strength, there are plenty of laughs for both genders in the audience, as well as a sprinkling of surprises, especially in the costume line (Pamela Jones’ design). The audience certainly sounded well entertained, tuning in to the fun of the piece." - Read the full Theatreview here.

“Yvonne Martin directs with consummate skill. The cast, too, are all experienced hands and, one and all, they give very fine performances. Caroline Lark has created a variety of different and believable characters. Ali Harper, Claire Dougan, Jon Pheloung, Laura Hill, Toby Leach and Matt Hudson flesh these out superbly. They all take to their roles with energy, verve and finesse, elevating the comedy. The production values of EROS are very high, indeed." - The Press review.

"The Forge’s latest comedy is an ambitious nanotechonlogical exploration of a six-way polyamory circle. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry – Eros has enough laughs and a light story to keep the audience entertained; and you might even learn a few things about love, Chinese opera, and Venus’ gas along the way.

The comedy revolves around six characters, who become enmeshed in a polyamory circle ruled by a strict charter which delineates sex-time, circle-time, and partner-swapping. Polyamory is the practice of having more than one intimate and loving simultaneous relationship, with the full knowledge and consent of all involved.

Julia (“Sex is only the gateway to intimacy”) and Rueben (“I like my misery unaltered, on the rocks”) are a married couple on the brink of divorce. “Sex fascist” Ingrid, and Jake, ‘your little old cowboy’ with a bad back, form the centre of the circle, and share an increasingly fragile three-way relationship with a “truth-rearranging journalist”, Andrew. Sexy geek Natalie wants in, looking for a no-strings-attached way to escape her work as a nanotechnologist, although rather predictably going against her principles and falling in love over the course of the play. 

By exploring the relationships of the rather diverse characters, the play takes a nanotechnologist’s look at marriage philosophies (“a ring is the perfect symbol for marriage – it goes on and on and on feeding on itself”) , whilst paring off the relative merits of bluegrass music and Chinese opera,  and veganism and German sausage.

Nanotechnology is the science of the minute – a human hair is 100,000 nanometres thick, Natalie tells us. Unfortunately the storyline doesn’t share the same depth, taking a while to get going because of the need to outline six back stories. This can be excused as the play’s focus is on the character’s interactions, which the cast developed fairly well.

The stage presence of the wonderful Ali Harper (Ingrid) left the others standing, however, although Jon Pheloung’s depiction of a German realist-and-romantic in conflict was also very entertaining. Toby Leach had the audience in stitches with his country music routine, while his fresian cowboy boots deserve special mention. Unfortunately Claire Dougan and Laura Hill didn’t have as compelling characters and lines to work with. 

The set did everything it needed to, being at various times a rocky cliff, a jewellery studio, and various lounges and bedrooms.

An enjoyable light-hearted comedy." - Reviewed by official student Forge reviewer Rhys Brookbanks.

Featuring:

Ali Harper
Laura Hill
Matt Hudson
Toby Leach
Claire Dougan
Jon Pheloung

Tickets:

Adults $32, Seniors/Supporters $27, Students $22.
30-Under Club: $15 (Mon-Wed only). Find out more.
Group bookings of 10 or more people $27. To make a group booking phone the Box Office on 963 0870 or email bookings@courttheatre.org.nz.

To download a media release, click here.

To listen to an interview on Plains FM with Toby Leach, click here.

For more information about EROS phone the Box Office on 963-0870.

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