DSL Showcase
September 2005 saw us all returning to DSL (Drama Studio London) to rehearse for the graduate showcase, which was performed on 4th October 2005 at The Venue in Leicester Square. My group chose an extract from ‘Loveplay’ by Moira Buffini, which was first performed by the RSC in 2001.
The play examines different elements of love through the ages; the common ground (quite literally!) being the patch of land where the events take place. As the play unfolds we see an Abbey turn to dust, a magnificent house reduced to a squat, and finally find ourselves in a present day office block. This is the home of ‘Hearts International’ dating agency, run by the character I played, Anita. A career-obsessed high-flyer, she appears at first to be the sort of modern woman for whom love is a commodity and nothing more.
I enjoyed playing her patronising superiority towards those she termed ‘saddo’ dating clients, knowing that the end of the scene would reveal her own dismal failures as a lover.