Trent Dalton’s Love Stories to debut on stage

The celebrated author is teaming up with his wife to bring his second novel, Love Stories, to life on the stage | WATCH

From left, actors Michala Banas and Jason Klarwein with Trent Dalton and wife Fiona Franzmann – and the ­Olivetti Dalton used to write Love Stories. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Talking about love is inherently cheesy, and author Trent Dalton knows that more than most.

But he also knows love is ­exactly what the heart needs to feel warm, fuzzy and full. It is the reason he wrote his 2021 book, Love Stories, at the height of the pandemic.

That joyous feeling can soon be experienced on stage too, with an adaptation of Love Stories to debut in September as part of the Brisbane Festival.

“There are people across this country in every street in every suburb who really love each other, right?” Dalton said. “Couples who love each other from all walks of life, all genders, and they are long-term lovers ­trying to work out ways to continue loving one another. That is a really noble exercise.”

Dalton, a writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine, sat on a busy street corner in Brisbane in 2021 and asked hundreds of ­strangers: “Can you tell me a love story?” With a dictaphone and an ­Olivetti typewriter gifted to him by a friend’s late mother, he documented stories of people, passion and places.

Yet the central tale of love running through the book is the one he shares with his wife of 23 years, Fiona Franzmann.

The stage production will be an extension of their story and, this time, Franzmann will have a say in her own narrative.

It will be the former journalist’s first theatre writing credit, with the couple making the ­decision to flesh out their characters, portrayed onstage by Jason Klarwein and Michala Banas, with more universal experiences of couples in long-term ­relationships.

“It’s in keeping with the spirit of us and but also weaving stories and anecdotes from people we know to try and create a universal long-term couple and experiences of people with kids trying to juggle a million things,” Franzmann said.

“I also wanted a strong female voice to explore female issues. It was really important to me.”

Dalton’s distinct style of storytelling has already been adapted with great success. His debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, debuted on stage during the Brisbane Festival in 2021 and still stands as QPAC’s best-selling drama. This year, it became a worldwide smash with a limited series on Netflix. The majority of the team behind the Boy Swallows Universe stage production have returned, including director Sam Strong and playwright Tim McGarry.

Strong promises the show will capture love in all its cheesy and corny goodness. “What’s extraordinary about Love Stories is that it encourages people to share their love and ­encourages people to love better,” he said. “It’s a rare gift to work on a show that brings people so much joy.”

The strictly limited world premiere season of Love Stories will run at QPAC’s Playhouse Theatre from September 10 to 29.