Trent Dalton’s Love Stories | Tim McGarry, Trent Dalton and Fiona Franzmann with Brisbane Festival and QPAC

All images: David Kelly

Following the resounding success of Boy Swallows Universe as a novel, play, and Netflix series, it was almost a given that we would see another of Trent Dalton’s books adapted for the stage. Trent Dalton’s Love Stories has been brought to life by the same team who worked on the stage-version of Boy Swallows Universe. Walking into Love Stories it was impossible not to have expectations. Dalton’s previous work shone a rare spotlight on suburban Australian life, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Boy Swallows Universe play. Both plays radiate Dalton’s love for niche suburban references, Australiana, and unique characters. But comparing the two adaptations is unfair, Love Stories is its own experience with a very different narrative approach.

Originating as a compilation of stories collected by Dalton in King George Square, Love Stories has more in common with newspaper columns like Modern Love or social media accounts in the vein of Meet Cutes NYC than any resemblance to Dalton’s fictional works. The play adapts the real stories of people Dalton interviewed for the book, sprinkled in with an overarching narrative following Dalton finding his own meaning of love. Dalton’s career as a journalist permeates Love Stories - the instinct to chase stories, find truths, and present them in a certain way. Considering the book was a collection of real experiences, I found myself asking if the dramatisation added anything not achievable in another medium. Why does Love Stories the play exist? Could it not have stayed a book or been expanded in a blog or column? Would it not be more appropriate to maintain the original voices and storytelling by making a podcast or filmed work? These questions stayed with me throughout the show.

The set of Love Stories is sparse, with the focus remaining on the actors who inhabit different passersby telling their stories to Dalton. The minimal approach to staging felt effective in highlighting the performances and stories in the show. In fact, I felt that the production could have been more effective if stripped back further to allow the talented actors more room to shine. Sections of monologue worked best when allowed to breathe. Actors took on multiple roles and switched quickly to create the busy inner-city atmosphere. Dalton being interrupted by street photographers and randomly aggressive strangers brought the world to life. Additional dance elements, effects, and the use of real-time filmed sections were executed impressively, but seemed to distract from the heart of the story.

All images: David Kelly

In becoming a play Love Stories has added so many additional degrees of separation to the original stories. Any story presented on stage has been collected by Dalton, edited for publication, adapted to the stage, interpreted by an actor, and refined by the director. The original storyteller’s voice has been obscured in this adaptation to a point that it is hard to know how much truth remains. As an audience member it felt impossible to know which elements were real and what creative liberties might have been taken. This is my core issue with Love Stories, why was it adapted and not fictionalised? If Dalton is the one trusted to tell these people’s stories, why is his authorship not enough?

Throughout Dalton’s quest to find the meaning of love, his own view of the topic seems to seep into every aspect of the show, with the tone being overwhelmingly positive. To Dalton it seems, love is hopeful. Every story told in the play is framed in a hopeful light, with love being presented as sometimes complex, but ultimately good. Even the darker stories that include loss or unkind love are told in a context of forgiveness, growth, or general fondness for love as a concept. This positivity is not necessarily a bad thing, maybe I am just a pessimist; but I had hoped for more complex explorations of the darker sides of love and relationships. People likely to engage with a writer are more likely to have positive experiences of love or at least have mostly healed from heartbreak. It is also impossible to know what stories Dalton cut, what changes he may have made, and what his journalistic intent was. Any attempts to depict ‘the other side of love’ are minimal and character struggles are quickly resolved. I once again find myself feeling the play should have been fictionalised to allow for more complex stories with clearer narrative connections to be told.

With characters at the heart of Love Stories, the best moments of the show come from the more nuanced representations of those Dalton interviewed. My favourite performance was of Joshua Creamer, a local barrister and human rights activist. The actor embodied the role with a strong stage presence. But what I enjoyed most about Creamer’s story was the fact it was a real story, a story of land rights, family, and his identity as an Aboriginal man. I liked the story because it was real, which makes me want to hear it told by Creamer himself, not an actor.

All images: David Kelly

Love Stories shies away from too many serious moments like Creamer’s story, the monologues, and the darker tales in favour of an overwhelming number of comedic lines. The show seemed afraid to let the mood drop for more than a few minutes. Real and complex retellings of relationships were intercut with cheap jokes often at the expense of the characters themselves. Alternative forms of love were represented, but these portions of the show were often the most filled with jokes. A girl mentioning she worked as a stripper, a men’s wellbeing group encouraging platonic affection between men, non-monogamous relationships, relationships with power dynamics, an effeminate straight man, a woman giving in after turning down a proposal several times - all met with roaring laughter. I don’t know how the real people portrayed by Love Stories feel about their depictions, but as an audience member it felt that they were not respected. Comedy is fine, but the timing and abundance of jokes felt inappropriate for a show based on a non-fiction book.

Love Stories is technically great - a light-hearted, funny, slightly moving production that feels tailor-made for a QPAC audience. But I continue to wonder why it exists. If the intent was to share real stories of love further than was done in the titular novel, surely a column, radio show, blog, social media account, podcast, or another book would have been more effective. If the intent was to share a nuanced exploration of what love is, then a fictionalised or new stage play would have been more appropriate.

The real reason Love Stories exists is probably more simple - Boy Swallows Universe was a hit and there is a demand for anything with Trent Dalton’s name attached. I do think people who like Dalton’s other creative outputs will enjoy Love Stories. It's not a bad show, in fact it’s quite entertaining; but in my opinion it's also deeply soulless for a show about love.

‘Trent Dalton’s Love Stories’ run 8-29 September at The Playhouse Theatre, QPAC as part of the 2024 Brisbane Festival.

All images: David Kelly