Love Stories: Inspired by real lives and loves, clever crew delivers intimate telling of Trent Dalton tales

An ensemble cast brings to the stage Trent Dalton’s Love Stories, collected when the writer asked strangers to share their tales of romance, rejection, and regret.

A scene from Love Stories at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Picture: David Kelly

Bribie Island. Bunnings. Biloela.

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories, currently on stage as part of the Brisbane Festival, serves up a generous helping of home for local ­audiences.

It’s the latest adaptation involving the best-selling author, drawn from the 2021 title of the same name. For that book, Dalton set up shop with a typewriter in the middle of the Brisbane CBD, asking strangers to share their own tales of romance, rejection and regret. Letters to and from Dalton’s wife, Fiona Franzmann, complete the collection.

Most of the creative team that powered the hit 2021 stage adaptation of Boy Swallows Universe have returned. That highly anticipated show felt constrained by the stage (and a sensible run time). Stitched together from many different perspectives, Love Stories is a fundamentally different ­proposition. It’s also given greater room to breathe.

Bryan Probets as part of the ensemble in Love Stories. Picture: Craig Wilkinson.

Renee Mulder’s stage design is a blank canvas fringed by low rectangular boxes. It’s a pragmatic solution that allows the busy ensemble to crisscross the space as individuals, pairings, and in a ­­co-ordinated flock, much as people do at traffic lights. Director Sam Strong blocks this movement precisely, welcoming the extra perspectives of a camera that watches from above, or is operated by Tnee Dyer using a gimbal rig.

Incorporating live footage into stage productions is a risky enterprise, often with limited reward. Here, Craig Wilkinson’s video design is fluid and beautifully crisp. A large single screen takes up the width of the stage, and is set at a height where the audience can comfortably switch between watching the actors in front of them, or the digital depictions in crystal-clear resolution. Veteran actor Bryan Probets makes the most of these close-ups, and then some.

Probets and Jeanette Cronin morph between multiple roles and accents with ease, capturing people whose lives have been shaped by both love and loss.

Love Stories is a true ensemble work, and all of the performers make valued contributions. Rashidi Edward is a spirited, engaging narrator – a busker who directly addresses the audience, and regularly chats with the writer figure (Jason Klarwein). Kimie Tsukakoshi plays an elderly Japanese woman named Sakura, whose story blooms as the play progresses.

Stephen Francis has composed gentle, ambient music that underscores flourishes of contemporary dance choreographed by Nerida Matthaei. This physical language adds to the intimacy of the show. It’s also a smart way to transition between stories and scenes.

Author Trent Dalton. Picture: Fiona Franzmann

As with any mosaic, some parts shine more brightly than others. The two queer relationships depicted are camp and fun, but lack the emotional heft many of the other stories have. A few of the characters are forgettable by the show’s end.

Alongside adaptor Tim McGarry, Dalton and Franzmann share writing credits, and have infused the play with glimpses of their own partnership. Michala Banas is a grounding presence as the writer’s wife, frustrated by his focus on everyone else’s stories while neglecting what’s happening at home. Crucially, Banas and Klarwein trace an arc that feels familiar, providing the audience a mirror to ponder their own actions and relationships.

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories: Playhouse Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane, to September 29. Tickets: $79.99. Bookings: brisbanefestival.com.au. Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes, no interval.