Frantic Assembly’s Lovesong:

A case study into its creation

By dillan pusey
Overview:

Lovesong is based on a man and a woman, and the play focuses on their final days together, as one of them
is soon to face the end, due to a terminal disease. In their last days together, the couple is visited by
memories of their younger selves who had shared the same space; their house, which they built together,
along with the relationship they built together.
The Initial process:
The beginning of this idea started with Scott Graham, one of the two directors and
choreographers, wanting to work with the writer of Lovesong, Abi Morgan, with whom they
had previously collaborated, in a show called Tiny Dynamite. Morgan hadn't made any theatre
for a while, having been immersed fully into the film industry, and Graham wanted to steer
her back towards theatre. Initially, Morgan was nervous and scared to work in theatre again,
quoting “In theatre, the writer has to invent the universe”.
Graham proposed to meet up, and just talk.
Before meeting her, he already had started to develop an idea, as he noticed she had also. His
idea had developed from the idea of love’s portrayal in songs, and how love songs can chart
our relationships, and how they get inside of you and get you thinking also. A love song can
chart a whole romantic life. This idea he found fascinating, and so wanted to implement it
into a show.
This idea of love in songs made him think of the poem, one of his favourite poems, The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by TS Eliot. He re-read this poem and was amazed. He was amazed that
this unreliable narrator and narcissist looked at himself in a negative way, so much so that
they dared take a risk, for fear of being crushed by rejection.
From this, Graham had the idea to look at a relationship through time, from old to young, and
from young to old, and to see how the relationship has developed.
The Initial process (continued):
This idea was buzzing in Graham’s head, so he went to Morgan with
it, who also had an idea, which was the thought that nobody has ever
made an action movie onstage. Graham recognised this, then
explained his idea after.
As they talked about their ideas, the pair realised their ideas weren't
as far apart as it seemed, in fact, they recognised that the concept of
an action film wasn’t necessarily Bruce Willis or Arnold
Schwarzenegger, but instead, it was more Buster Keaton and Harold
Lloyd. They also talked about grand romantic gestures, which lay at
the heart of the idea forming.
They reached a similar consensus from very different original
standpoints.
With this idea created, Morgan went and wrote something that “tore
their hearts out” said Graham.
And that was where the initial idea of Lovesong blossomed.
What Graham and morgan wanted
to stand out during the process:

Graham and Morgan wanted to converge a plot where the past

This was the best scene/favourite scene of Graham’s, and he spent a lot of
time working on it, for in his mind, it would be one of the most interesting
and truthful moments of the play.
So as these moments converge; it is about the action moving to the crux of
the matter, resulting in convergence, he noted.
Steven Hoggett, the other director and choreographer, and Graham wanted
to discover, that via the bed, all the memories were held; all the memories of
their life and the relationship within their lives. It can tell all their stories; of
all their loving, but also of all their disputes.
Additionally, within this scene, they wanted to create a scene with all four
actors moving around, resulting in the audience not being able to tell who
was who.
They wanted the scene to start clear, then divulge into a mass of memory,
recollection and passion; then, this turns into a loving place where two
people are contemplating life without one another.
The links:

Touch and contact-these are key moments and themes

The directors wanted to make a specific scene for the bed, that they assumed/knew would be complicated.
Their approach was not to tell the actors about that scene; instead marking out an area on the floor. Then,
the director’s got the actors rolling around from one side to the other of this marked area. This helps the
actor explore/discover their body and how it moves.
This exercise has been done before, however, it was adapted for this specific scene. For this scene, the
directors paired the actors up. As they rolled on the floor, the other actor put pressure on a part of their
body. The actor rolling around would then have to keep moving naturally, with the body part with pressure
applied to it having to stay still. This helped them discover how their body kept moving.
Then, they made the square smaller and used their discovered movements to explore the area. Then they
made a string of material, keeping the thought of how it felt for a part of their body to be restrained then
released.
Following this, they put just two actors within the space and asked them to perform their produced
material at the same time. Graham noted the results as “beautiful discoveries”, adding that “sometimes it
clashed, but you just adjust that”.
After this, the actor’s new performing space was the bed, and they all had to perform their material on the
bed, and they were not allowed to get off of the bed.
The results of this exercise:

Graham claimed had the exercise been ignored, and had he and Hoggett announced the scene to the actors,
they would have ended up with a more depressed material, which he announced was not the point, instead it
was meant to foretell passion, as well as a desire to rage against the dying light.
The resulting choreography ended up not being sad, which I can confirm when I watched the show myself. I
found it to be a passionate “letting go”, as well as a celebration of life, which Graham wanted, and also, the use
of positive music he used helped achieve this, as he has mentioned himself.
Graham went onto say that as they had all four performers on the bed, (which was a special bed, due to
having entrances and exits underneath the bed); they then started to choreograph these entrances and exits.
People could literally appear and disappear, said Graham: people could be with their partner, or the younger
self of their partner. Watching that, from my own perspective, was very magical and effective, and it
portrayed these themes Graham wanted portrayed; these themes of rage, a want to hold on, and intense
passion.
Physicality in the rehearsal
process:

Graham noticed each actor had a certain physicality-a particular style of movement.
This was discovered just by setting tasks and placing those discovered physicalities into
scenes directly.
Relating back to the bed scene briefly, Graham found that the end result of the bed
scene was beautiful-but he followed this by saying it wasn’t always the case. Again
following this, he nodded to the thought that he loved working with new actors who
start from the beginning, (though not necessarily in acting, but in William-Edward
Bennett, Sam Cox, Siân Phillips and Leanne Rowe’s case, a newness to physical theatre
and exploring their physical selves). Because what they are delivering is something
physically dynamic and precise but also something that is fragile-their performers, not
dancers.
Graham exclaimed that you need to use building blocks in the process; make sure it is
steady and safe for the actors, in order to take away that fear of movement that so many
people feel.
 Interview between Ed Bennett
and Scott Graham:

An interesting quote from Bennett reads: “part of the director’s job is to softly condescend to you to make you feel
like you’re having all the ideas they had two years ago”. I like to interpret this quote in another way, instead the
director’s lead you to their ideas, but as we all interpret and perceive things in different ways, new things are
discovered along the way, which surprise even the director’s. There were moments in this process where Graham
assures he was surprised.
One example of this is Graham’s early views of Sam Cox in the rehearsal room. Sam Cox speaks really slowly,
with pauses, like beats (as he ended up doing in the show). Graham thought he’d made a mistake in the casting
here, but he could tell Siân Phillips knew this was the actor, and he would develop over the process. Graham
noticed Cox spoke slowly to recognise the beats-and it worked. He learnt you’ve got to encourage actors to take
something apart before presenting something that looks as fixed, as a lot of actors want to present that fixed
material first, and actually, picking something apart helps understand the undertones in the text. The special
thing about this show, is the flexibility of all those involved in the process.
The interview continued:

One thing I’d like to highlight; relating to one thing I mentioned previously; is
the flexibility of everyone involved in the making of the play. The trust
secured between the cast and designers and creative minds. Bennett
expressed the joy and unique nature of working on a text, with the writer of
that text alive, and then being able to cooperate and talk with that writer on
the text. Morgan was incredibly malleable in her script writing, one such
example comes later in the process. Graham was within a late read through,
and in response to what he had seen, he took Morgan aside, and derived that
the character of Billy had taken the whole situation of what was happening to
his wife all to well. Graham destested against the thought that the character of
Billy couldn’t see the absurdity of death. Morgan said to leave it with her, and
the next day, she had added a part to the play where the character of Billy lists
all the things he isn’t going to be able to do when the character of Maggie dies,
within the context of an outburst. Graham has since said that this scene is one
of the best in the show.
This here is where, I feel, that some of the success of this show comes from.
People were not attached to ideas-the whole process was experimental, like
one large group project. The result was something really effective, but most of
all, it was something truthful.
The interview again continued:

One of the main takeaways from the show, in which Graham has branched too in the interview, was the
malleability of a very different cast of actors; all four actors were completely different in their physicalities
and styles of acting, but also in their looks and voices. Despite this, the actors melded.
One mention from Graham I found interesting is the thought that you need to take a risk with actors,
sometimes, and the difference of actors-it is about finding something truthful within those actors, not about
finding similarities in terms of their bodies, accents or gestures-if you find just a few moments of similarity,
that is enough to shine the truth. Graham mentioned it is a waste of time trying to find similarities in terms
of body, voice and gesture.
 The interview-Siân Phillips:

Graham was shocked that Phillips rocked up for an audition-he jested that they threw her around,
realising she was a solid and strong women, who had the ability to hold her core, which he
assumed was due to a perfected technique.
Graham was wary to talk about death, but he had never met a person more sanguine about it (it
was her character that passed away in the play). Bennett recalled she was from a rural Welsh
family, and quoting “their attitude to death was to turn your head to the wall and disappear”-it
was because death was so regular, so the best way to go out on your own terms was to simply turn
your head to the wall and disappear.
Bennett also recognised that in Phillips’ childhood, some people took her away from her parents
on two occasions, claiming they were going to die (they didn’t). He said that she came out of that
thinking death to be an imposter, and something not to be fearful of.
This led to the extraordinary story told in her performance, where death is portrayed as
something neat and manipulative; her performance was so truthful, showing there are ways to
have a good death. This is a key part of the rehearsal and creation process of Lovesong for the
result of choosing Phillips for the role resulted in a performance that emanated truth, passion
and heart.
The interview-what Graham
learnt:
He noted he had learnt a lot from the making of Lovesong. He had three tasks-one was the
task of making the show from scratch and developing it from Morgan and the performers;
the other was the task of learning how to talk with the performers, which he stated was
something you are not taught, and instead, it is something you have to find out and
develop. The third task was to find a common language for individuals as well as for the
whole group.
These three tasks I find are important for the creation process all in different ways. The
first is a making of a play; one that comes with no context or background-you have nothing
to work off, so essentially you’re going solo the whole way, and therefore, you have nothing
to base you play against, and truly do not know the end result of it. The second and third
task are things I think you need to develop with each company you work with-people are
always going to communicate in different ways, therefore it is your job to adjust and find
that common communication, not just as a director, but as any role within the company.
That common language is going to make for more fluent communication; that fluent
communication resulted in common highlighting of themes and ideas in Lovesong,
allowing them to shine brightly, and impact the audience heavily.
The interview-people in the
rehearsal room
Bennett said one important thing about the rehearsal room was that there
was always one person in there who knew the answer to a question, or knew
how to find the answer to a question (or problem). This wasn’t just the
director(s), it was also the actors.
Having a reliability on those around you isn’t a bad thing in the process, I
think. This is true, I hope, for most rehearsal rooms; if you have a problem,
someone will have the answer. This most likely sped up the rehearsal process,
as sometimes people never raise issues and then they have to be resolved
after that particular exercise-getting problems fleshed out as soon as they
arrive will always help speed up the ever-decreasing time in the rehearsal
room.
Bennett also recognised that being wrong is incredibly important and
essential in the rehearsal process. Not knowing what you’re doing is
fundamental; too often actors try to get things right, as Graham put it: “it’s
the areas we don’t have confidence or expertise in we want to get right the
first time, because they don’t want the spotlight on them whilst they are
failing”.
Having this ideal removed from the rehearsal process seems incredibly
essential to build that trust Graham wanted to build.
The interview-the journey of
the actors

One thing Bennett mentioned was his, as well as his notice of the other actor’s, physical
journey. As I’ve already mentioned, the actors didn't really come from backgrounds heavily
involved in physical work, instead they all were new to the process of physical theatre in a
way. Bennett regarded his steps into exploring his physicality were far from the likes of
Frantic Assembly’s deep delving into physical theatre. The whole process allowed the actors
to delve into their bodies, with exercises I’ve mentioned as well as the slow, introductory
approach Graham and Hoggart took. As I’ve mentioned, Graham told us through his
interview with Bennett that this newness from the actors added a real truth to their
characters, as well as a fragility that was really beautiful. The scenes also felt really
connected; you could see the connections across the characters clearly; I saw how
unbelievably close these characters felt that even if a simple pin dropped onstage, the two
actors could provoke a meaningful response. This closeness derived from the bonds the
actors formed between one another-it was not taught; not practised-it was formed and
harnessed during the process. Often in the shows we work in, we bond really closely as a
cast; Lovesong shows us how to utilize those bonds in the shows we work on, and the result is
something so special, because in a way, acting is not involved-as Graham constantly
mentions-it’s truthful. It’s really truthful.
my response to watching the
play:

After watching the show, then after watching the document and interview on Lovesong, the themes and
thoughts Graham talks about are so evident within the play. The truthfulness and fragility of the
characters really stands out. The whole time I was watching the show, I was waiting for Cox’s character to
break-and as I’ve discussed, initially that was never going to happen in the play; but when it did, there was
something almost satisfying about that moment. Accompanied with the sweetness and determination of
Phillips’ character, they made for a beautiful, and accurate, relationship.
Bennett and Rowe’s characters showed a beautiful timeline of change, where we see what seems a perfect
relationship turn into a journey of ups and downs, of love and arguments.
The really interesting thing about watching a show, then watching the process of that show, is you start to
realise and recognise that process within the show. When you think back, things stand out more. I can see
that Phillips’ character does not fear death, but instead fears being away from her partner, and also fears
how her partner will cope. That performance is truthful, and It’s almost like there is no acting involved, as
it feels so truthful and encompasses the realness of relationships; this is also apparent in the closeness,
but also distance, between Bennett’s and Rowe’s characters.
my response to watching the
play continued:

I also admired and appreciated the physicality more: I did initially, but you can grow a respect and
appreciation for what goes on in the process to what appears onstage.
I loved the flowers onstage, as I feel they accurately portray love, but also memory. A flower has a life of its
own, from bud to bloom, which I think portrays relationships brilliantly
The blocks at the back of the stage portraying the consistent theme of starlings was interesting; they
showed change; as technology has shaped our lives, but also it has shaped our dating lives. Maybe that’s a
nod to that.
Also the bed, fridge and wardrobe being places where the actors could enter and exit from helped amplify
and bolster the effectiveness of some of the physical pieces making the transitions look effective also; and
smooth too.
I also wrote in my notes whilst watching the play that it was a good showcase of a play with few words: you
can make it look interesting physically, and can add a lot of time to a piece physically also. Sometimes you’re
body onstage is more interesting than the words you say onstage.
Lastly, I noted the music, which as Graham said, helped make the scenes sweeter, and less depressed. For
me, the music added a consistent thought of passion and love, which was helped by the physical movements
and material onstage.
Buster Keaton:

Graham said that the action behind Lovesong was inspired by Buster Keaton, so, I wanted to look into the
actor and explore the inspiration located within the actor. Keaton specialised in short films, specifically
silent ones, 1o of which were silent features; 6 of those are held in the National film Registry; and also 19
silent short films. After finding this information alone, I can already start to see why he was an inspiration,.
His films were silent, so everything he had to do, from action to emotion, had to be physical-without words.
After watching some of his work, much of which is centred about romance and love, the clear actioned love
is really interesting to watch, and it conveys emotion just as well as words could. This is also evident in
lovesong.
Harold lloyd:

The other silent film actor Graham mentioned was Harold Lloyd. Lloyd was a film
comedian, and in many of his appearances, he would display great romantic
intention and action. His characters were often afloat with love, and they would
push themselves to succeed and prove themselves worthy of the women who
adorned his characters. The magic of his onscreen characters was influenced by
each of the three women he fell for in his life; those being Spunky Bebe Daniels,
Mildred Davis and Jobyna Ralston. Therefore, there was a real truth behind his
acting, and in each instance of listening to Scott Graham, he mentioned truth a lot,
so there is some true similarities and inspiration here.
The end of the case study:

Through this case study, I have seen many techniques used; discoveries discovered and explore, with
enough malleability to create a spectacular play which I believe has been heavily impacted by the rehearsal
process: were it not for the things I’ve talked about, Lovesong wouldn’t be half the final product it turned
out to be. This play is a fantastic example of the rehearsal process shining through in a play.
Thank you for listening!