Picture: Mark Senior
Lovestuck continues at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London until 12 July 2025.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
In 2017, a couple of Bristol students went viral when, after a first date, a woman tried to throw an unflushable poo out of the bathroom window. When she realised that the window did not open out onto the garden, as she had thought, but there was another fixed pane, she attempted to retrieve it and ended up wedged, headfirst, between two windows.
Lovestuck takes inspiration from that story to tell its own, that of Peter and Lucy, two geeks who have each been struggling to find romance. He is into live-action role play or LARPing; she is a board game freak. Despite adopting different personas to improve their dating profiles, they match and find they like each other for who they are – until an unflushable poo makes its presence known…
As a comedy romance, Lovestuck benefits from two engaging central performances, from Shane O’Riordan’s Peter and, on press night, Ambra Caserotti understudying for Jessica Boshier (who sustained an injury during rehearsals) as Lucy.
However, in Act I, especially, the book material falls short. For his first musical, James Cooper utilises a pre-recorded voiceover from Alison Steadman that, as narration is wont to do, shortcuts both exposition and character development. While the pace of the piece is generally taut, the dialogue feels cheesy to the point of being uninspired.
Musically, though, the show fares much better, with Bryn Christopher and Martin Batchelar’s pop-infused numbers working well. Many times, the lyrics (co-written by Christopher and Cooper) could be better, with verses infused with lines that sound like they’re about to rhyme before veering off into poor word selection.
With the central pair being perfect for each other and actually getting on, it is up to the supporting cast to throw spanners into the works. Johan Munir delivers great fun as Peter’s friend and former landlord, who attempts to indoctrinate the leading man with his own brand of toxic masculinity. More interesting, but less successful, is Bridgette Amofah’s Miseraie, a manifestation of Lucy’s self-sabotaging subconscious. The decision to make Lucy’s confidante imaginary is a fun one, but it needs stronger and more consistent writing to do well here.
But while Act I is full of red flags about a musical that risks missing the mark on many levels, Act II sees an uptick in quality. Lyrics gain a frisson of intelligence – as Miseraie threatens Lucy with the prospect of life as a Cat Lady, the repeated opening lines of “Hear me out/Hear me out” emphasise the “meow” – and the book becomes unafraid to take some wild, surreal and genuinely comedic swings. It is no coincidence that the superfluous narration all but disappears – indeed, when it does intrude, Steadman makes explicit reference to being unnecessary.
By the time the musical starts to wrap up, we’ve been treated to some fun musical numbers and winning performances. Director Jamie Morton makes some missteps – the presentation of Lucy as being upside down while being upright works without the window itself needing to rotate – but otherwise, matters proceed at a lick.
Chi-San Howard’s choreography has some fun moments, too, especially with a charming Act I pas de deux between O’Riordan and Callum Connolly as an unscrupulous estate agent. There’s also a cheeky nod to High School Musical in the ensemble’s dance moves in the final number as they sing about being “all in this together”.
If you want a smart, hilarious evening about the perils of dating in modern times – well, too bad, Why Am I So Single? closed at the start of the year. But while Lovestuck may not be as technically excellent as Marlow and Moss’ take on modern romance, it does still succeed in bringing the joy.
And there’s no point in pooh-poohing a fun musical.
Scott Matthewman
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