Latest Love Negotiated Review

From SanDiego.com:

"Don’t expect major insights. Six’s characters, however, do offer some
lesser ones, like Ronnie’s observation that 'Dancing and drinking were
invented for sex' or Rich’s philosophy: 'Truth is better than lying.
You have to remember less.' And Six’s script cleverly milks a gag about
how obvious a couple’s surreptitious kiss was."

Read the full review here. Photo by Kathleen Masse, quote by Don Braunagel, San Diego.com.

Love Negotiated Pix in Slideshow format.

Reviews

From Total Theater:

"The 'bargaining' begins almost immediately. Are these established relationships fixed or are they variable? Does love need redefinition every so often? Just what is love? The playwright explores a variety of love options in this 90-minute laugh riot."

Read the full review here.

Photo by Kymri Wilt, quote by Robert Hitchcox, Total Theater.

From the San Diego Reader:

"The Lotus Theatre Collective has given the play a lively production in which the entire cast contributes (Marc Biagi, as Richard, Jennie Olson, as Veronica, and Melanie Sutherlin, as Maria, merit special mention). Sheila Rosen's costumes define character to a T. And Marie Miller's lighting's the best I've ever seen at Swedenborg Hall."

Read the full listing here.

Photo by Kathleen Masse, quote by Jeff Smith, San Diego Reader.

From San Diego City Beat:

"But this play contains little about law, at least the kind you find between the covers of a stupid book. We can lay down all the rules we want, and we can modify them as our conduct requires, but romantic love—often against its better judgment—is the central force of nature in our public lives. That’s what makes playwright Kevin Six’s concept (i.e., lawyers in love) so appropriate. He’s got an ideal partner in director D.J. Sullivan, probably the best all-around drama coach in the city. The story takes it from there—and while it occasionally backs into its characters, it’s a spirited tale, blessedly devoid of cliché, that augurs well for Six and, importantly, for University Heights’ Swedenborg Hall."

Read the full review here.

Photo by Kymri Wilt, quote by Martin Jones-Westlin, San Diego City Beat.

From San Diego News Service, Feb. 15, 2009:

"If you want to experience a really funny look at love, this play Love Negotiated is an absolute must."

Read the full review here.

Photo by Kathleen Masse, Quote by Leo E. Laurence, San Diego News Service.

Total Theater Totally Loves "Love Negotiated"!

And another great review from Robert Hitchcox at Total Theater:

"It's so simple. Veronica (Jennie Olson) and Richard (Marc Biagi), a couple for the last few years, invite three of their favorite marrieds or almost-marrieds over for cocktails. It's a tradition. Maria (Melanie Sutherlin) and Mark (Tyler Joshua Herdklotz), a nice engaged couple with just a few deep-seated problems, are invited. There's Luke (Thomas Hall), living with the charming Kate (Teresa Beckwith). And, finally, John (Stephen Rowe) and Ann (Savvy Scopeletti) join the group, with their own serious problems.

These are the loveable characters in Kevin Six's hilarious new play, Love Negotiated, premiering at the Swedenborg Hall under the capable direction of San Diego icon D. J. Sullivan. Six has forewarned you of things to come by virtue of his title; negotiate does mean bargaining with another.

The 'bargaining' begins almost immediately. Are these established relationships fixed or are they variable? Does love need redefinition every so often? Just what is love? The playwright explores a variety of love options in this 90-minute laugh riot.

Six populates his story with a few lawyers: a divorce attorney, a corporate type, a contract specialist, and one that doesn't practice. Yes, you already know there is trouble in River City. The others include a song-writing cop, a singing investigator who works for Richard, a fairly well know actor, and, last, a very, very angry cellist.

Some of the characters have a separate history together, such as being previously married to the host and hostess. Other characters have, shall we say, roving eyes. Some may just be interested in gender bending. There appear to be no rules. However, by virtue of the fact of no rules, rules seem to develop. Now don't get confused, this is all about love.

The joy is the script. Six likes to scare people with those commitment words like the D, C, and H words (dog, children, and honesty). One of his characters refers to sex as taking off your clothes and bumping into each other. He also gets into quasi and real legal terms: pre-nuptials, post-nuptials, and, my favorite, preemptive divorce.

Love Negotiated is a delightful play on words about the infinite permutations of love. Veronica and Richard are the stabilizing factor throughout the play...if by stabilizing one means fighting, bickering, screaming, and, eventually, making up. The cast moves from ensemble to duo and solo performances easily. Excellent portrayals by all, with their speeches just right. The pauses are perfectly timed, and the overlapping dialogue plays well. Director Sullivan moves her ever changing couples about the set, defining who is with whom as they ready for their moments of discovery. These moments are well defined by lighting director Marie Miller, who solo-spots each couple.

In sum, Love Negotiated should be required viewing for anybody contemplating cohabitation and/or marriage. It's also an excellent 90 minutes for marrieds. They can have moments of revelation as well as moments to laugh at their own history."

City Beat Reviews Love Negotiated

Small world

Funny Love Negotiated doesn’t say much, but it says it pretty well

By Martin Jones Westlin

The opening scene of Lotus Theatre Collective’s Love Negotiated is apparently set in the early evening, which makes it a little late in the day for a nooner. Richard and Veronica squeezed it in a few minutes ago anyhow, and that says a lot about the persistence that marks their lives. They’re divorce and family attorneys, after all. As such, it’s not stretching things to presume they’ve nooned their share of clients and then some, a few of whom probably had it coming.

But this play contains little about law, at least the kind you find between the covers of a stupid book. We can lay down all the rules we want, and we can modify them as our conduct requires, but romantic love—often against its better judgment—is the central force of nature in our public lives. That’s what makes playwright Kevin Six’s concept (i.e., lawyers in love) so appropriate. He’s got an ideal partner in director D.J. Sullivan, probably the best all-around drama coach in the city. The story takes it from there—and while it occasionally backs into its characters, it’s a spirited tale, blessedly devoid of cliché, that augurs well for Six and, importantly, for University Heights’ Swedenborg Hall.

The headstrong Dick and Ronnie (Mark Biagi and Jennie Olson) fuel history’s most grueling love relationship (their own); ironically, they stay together amid the maelstrom that descends on their stylish home. Before the play’s over, three other couples weigh in on sex, lifestyles, family and every other element so crucial to romantic foundations. Some (like Ann, played by the hilarious Savvy Scopelleti) will begrudgingly draw their own conclusions about the gay experience. All will agree that romantic involvement raises more questions than it answers.

Six would likely be the first to note that this show breaks nothing near new ground. Playwrights from Aeschylus to Philip King have tackled love and its intimacies from every conceivable angle, with every conceivable result. That’s where Sullivan comes in with a vengeance—her uncanny sense of style keeps the interludes interesting, creating happy distractions as she adjusts body languages to fit the rising and falling action. Sullivan is truly a San Diego treasure; the fact that she’s coached two Tony winners and an Oscar nominee is but a whisper amid her accomplishments.

She and Six do tend to falter a bit on the use of the set. Much is made of Richard and Veronica’s front door as part of the action, with the couples posing in the frame as it opens. Some scenelets might have gone better if some of the principals had let themselves in instead of ringing that blasted bell. That may seem like a quibble, but it’s not. Doors are highly metaphorical in middle farces like these; that’s why they’re always getting slammed, poor things.
In any event, please do enjoy this taut, well-executed piece on a topic that never seems to go away. It’s earnestly funny, and it’s also a feather in Swedenborg Hall’s cap; more and more, the venue is holding itself out as a major public performance space. Nice to think that eclectic University Heights has a little arts district in the making, with the acclaimed Diversionary Theatre as its flagship.

This review is based on the opening-night performance of Feb. 14. Love Negotiated runs through March 1 at Swedenborg Hall, 1531 Tyler Ave., University Heights. $12-$15. 619-952-1416, www.lovenegotiated.com.

Write to marty@edarts.info and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

The San Diego Reader Sounds Off on Love Negotiated

From the San Diego Reader Website:

"The Lotus Theatre Collective has given the play a lively production in which the entire cast contributes (Marc Biagi, as Richard, Jennie Olson, as Veronica, and Melanie Sutherlin, as Maria, merit special mention). Sheila Rosen's costumes define character to a T. And Marie Miller's lighting's the best I've ever seen at Swedenborg Hall."

Read the full listing here.

Photo by Kathleen Masse, quote by Jeff Smith, San Diego Reader.

First Review of Love Negotiated

From San Diego News Service, Feb. 15, 2009:

"If you want to experience a really funny look at love, this play Love Negotiated is an absolute must."

Read the full review here.

"PHOTO shows gay kissing scene, rare in San Diego theatre, as policeman
Mark (Tyler Josua Herdklotz, left) embraces soap-opera star Luke
(Thomas Hall), in the new and very funny stage play Love Negotiated. It opened on Valentine’s Day at the Swedenborg Hall theatre."

Photo, caption and quotes by Leo E. Laurence, San Diego News Service.