Love is My Sin
29 sonnets by William Shakespeare Selected and adapted for performance by Peter Brook
A man and a woman; the vagaries of love; the cruelty of time; the strains of a cello.
A non-naturalistic poetic text that illuminates a couple’s early love, tender reminiscences, separation, jealousy, betrayal and the cruel changes wrought by time.
“Love Is My Sin is a beautiful and complex layering of Shakespeare’s sonnets”
- Joanna Bowen, Aussie Theatre, May 2013
“An elegantly fascinating study in the vagaries of human relationships.”
- Michael Billington, The Guardian, Jan 2011
Listen to Director Kate Herbert talk with Robyn Winslow on Vision Australia Radio
Feedback/Comments
The actors had to push mud uphill in this one. The acting was strong but the vehicle made it very difficult for them and for us. It was typical unexciting theatre. Yes, Shakespeare's sonnets were used to make some sort of relational through line - potentially a good concept. However the emotional peaks and troughs weren't there enough to make it compelling theatre - the emotional range could have been so much more - a result of the directing? Not sure. The cello initially got in the way in the tiny La Mama space, until I got used to it. Anyway, I give it a '3' - a little generous.
Still needs alot of work. The piece and concept seems sound but results of messy execution not typical of Kate Herbert seems to have meant this piece is not as great as the sum of its parts.
I hope to see this again once a solid development has taken place.