Last night I went to the Royal Exchange to see ‘True Love Lies’.  The last play I saw there was Three Sisters, a bleak and claustrophobic play that I didn’t much enjoy.  The depressing mood of the play and the unusual stool-style seats made it a long and uncomfortable evening.  But last night I enjoyed very much.  The play was funny, daring and quite poignant.

‘I love Manchester,’ says Canadian playwright Brad Fraser. ‘It has provided a very welcoming artistic home for me for about 15 years now.’*  True Love Lies is the latest of a number of Fraser’s plays to be produced by the Royal Exchange.

The play is about love, families and relationships.  Fraser pushes the ideal of the modern family to its absolute limits with his dark humour, graphic exchanges and in one particular scene, sex on the table. Kane and Carolyn are the parents of promiscuous daughter Madison and moody, introverted son, Royce. When Madison approaches David -a slick, confident restaurateur – for a waitressing job, a family secret is revealed which leaves them all reeling. David is Kane’s ex-lover. As more and more of their past is revealed, Kane and Carolyn are forced to re-examine their relationship and the family’s foundations are shaken.

The action is split between Kane and Carolyn’s family home and David’s restaurant. The clever set design and use of lighting allow for fast paced scene changes, as the play moves quickly towards its climax. Interestingly, much of the action takes place around food and the dinner table – whether in the home of Kane and Carolyn or after hours at David’s restaurant.

The acting is faultless with noteworthy performances by Oliver Gomm as Royce, the geeky and depressed son and the delightful Amy Beth Hayes as the flirty, wayward Madison.  In fact all of the characters are extremely convincing and well cast.

This play is definitely worth seeing. However, avoid booking a seat in the top tier (B section) as some of the action takes place directly below and it is difficult to catch. And those bloody seats. . . .

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Tue Love Lies runs until 21 February 2009 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann’s Square, Manchester. Box Office 0161 833 9833, www.royalexchangetheatre.co.uk
* Brad Fraser quote taken from the True Love Lies programme, page 14.