Trent Dalton's Love Stories
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Date Reviewed: 12/09/2025
The Beatles sang “All you need is love” and they were right. We know that Journalist and writer, Trent Dalton certainly took note. For his second book, “Love Stories,” he gathered together tales from everyday Aussies and their grapples with that four-letter word.
The book has been adapted into a play. It brings together the same creative team that adapted Dalton’s successful debut book, “Boy Swallows Universe” including director, Sam Strong and adaptor, Tim McGarry. Dalton has previously said that he focused on his parents in his debut book, whereas for the sophomore one he decided to branch out and find out all about other people. In doing so, he holds up a mirror to all of us.
On a busy Brisbane street corner Dalton sat during the pandemic. He sat balancing a sky-blue Olivetti typewriter on a writer’s desk, a precious gift that was bequeathed to him by his mate’s mother. As we enter the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta for the play’s Sydney premiere – it previously debuted in Brisbane – we see a camera trained on the audience. It is a reminder that everyone in this room has their own unique story to tell.
This play centres around the husband (Jason Klarwein (“In Our Blood”)) and wife (Anna McGahan) and how their marriage links back or differs to those love stories that the former is collecting each day. There is an ensemble cast playing numerous characters. Bryan Probets is a real standout as he has to juggle a number of very different roles including but not limited to a 100-year-old scientist/grandfather, a father giving away his daughter on her wedding day, and a submissive in a dominatrix relationship. He does this with many great accents and changing aspects of his physicality.
Jacob Watton and Hsin-Ju Ely perform some dance moves, which add another thoughtful layer to this multidisciplinary theatre piece. Craig Wilkinson’s video design accentuates each character’s story, making the poignant ones even more so, and the funny ones a barrel of laughs. There’s even some heartbreak thrown in there for good measure.
Rashidi Edward plays a Rwandan busker named Jean Benoit who is another key part of the play, threading together some of the narrative arcs. Kirk Page plays a First Nations barrister who talks about his family with a lot of pride and prevailing despite the intergenerational trauma. On the flipside, Valerie Bader is excellent as a dry Helen Clark, a straightshooter if there ever was one.
Some of the characters tell their own story while others describe their parent’s ones. On either front, you can tell the tales are deeply personal ones. One thing’s for certain, there are many different shades in this story and this is not all earnest storytelling. That’s a good thing because it saves the drama from being overly cloying or too sentimental for its own good.
Dalton certainly elicited some highly intimate anecdotes while out on ethe streets. This play does each of these stories justice. Although it’s quite a busy, fast-paced production, each vignette is given ample space, allowing the audience to find meaning in the one (or ones) that resonates with them the most.
The set by Renee Mulder may look deceptively simple with lights, the camera and writing props but in the end, this is a highly coordinated symphony between the actors and videographer. It puts the spotlight firmly on love.
“Love Stories” is ultimately a sweet look at a bunch of deeply human stories that will restore your faith in the human spirit. Each tale will make us stop, take stock, and reflect. In an emotional 100 minutes, it reminds us that we all could certainly do with more love, as it is the thing that makes the world go round.
By Natalie Salvo.