Lovefool is a reflection on what love is in today’s world, on what is considered love, and even on what we are taught is love by institutions so detached from truth and society to become almost dangerous for our understanding of reality. But within this initial contemplation lies a much deeper and intimate drama directly involving the audience.
It begins as a farce, Lovefool, a mockery of a system that preaches love and makes love an almost religious, natural, and necessary act of acceptance. It then delves into a disenchanted analysis of modern-day dating and apps. It masks the unfortunate story of any millennial grappling with toxic love, and yet… Lovefool reveals itself to be a profound reflection on trauma and PTSD, amnesia and memory, and the difficulty of loving and forgiving oneself.
In this one-woman show, Grace (Kristin Winters) explores all the facets that can lead to madness in love, investigating all forms of possible abuse, from the subtle and psychological to outright harassment and even the most brutal physical abuse. All of this is depicted through the various stages of post-trauma that Grace tries to navigate with the help of a professional: from alcoholism to self-harm and even to genuine suicide attempts.
Lovefool is a deeply profound, well-written, and moving parable that alternates between irreverent and necessary dark humour to downplay the addressed theme, finding in the protagonist a perfect dramatic force. Kristin Winters is energetic, astute, irreverent, and yet profoundly human, making herself accessible to each of us as her drama becomes ours, to the point that we leave visibly moved and shaken. Brutal, genuine, and profound, like few others in portraying rape and how such a tragedy can impact people’s lives, their stories, and their perception of themselves.
A heart-wrenching tale that speaks of violence against women and what it means to take agency over one’s life and rediscover the only truly healthy and fulfilling form of love: self-love, all this resonating in the final notes of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.”
