As I sat in the David Miller Theatre this past weekend, it felt as if Cupid had taken out his bow and shot myself and the rest of the hopeless romantics in the audience with an arrow filled with reality check. What was that reality check? The reminder that finding your one true love and living happily ever after, is not as likely as all of our childhood fairy tales made it seem.  

The all school winter play, Love/Sick, forced us all to wake up to reality by showing how love truly works, how heartbreak is inevitable for everyone. 

The play itself was broken up into nine vignettes, each portraying a couple at a certain stage of love: love at first sight, heartbreak, cheating and affairs, marriage, jobs, and the decision to have a baby or not. Regardless, there was a part of a show that struck a chord with everyone in the audience, because we have all experienced or witnessed some form of heartache from the play.

Under the spotlight, the performers allowed their audience to witness and understand that yes, the complicated and messy types of love are common and yes, more than just you and your partner are going through bumps in the road in their relationships. And that falling out of love with someone, but still loving them is possible. 

In the opening vignette, a man (Junior JP Best) and a woman (Senior Katie Finnegan) met in a grocery store coined as Supercenter, – my theory is Supercenter and Supercenter Prime are spoofs of Amazon and Amazon Prime, but do not take my word for it – where they fall in love instantly. Or compulsively? Impulsively? Obsessive impulsively? 

However, the couple keeps debating over whether or not they should follow through with their love for each other because they are both clinically diagnosed obsessive compulsives. 

This debate between the couple was, of course, in between a few kisses in the aisles of the Supercenter store eliciting a laugh out of numerous audience members.

The play progresses on to show how one person could feel so in love, but their love for partner is not reciprocated. Louise OverBee (played by senior Martha Clifford) loved a man named Gary, yet Gary decides to break the news to Louise via a singing telegram in a jester costume (played by John Turelli), which may have made Louise feel like a clown for thinking Gary was the one. 

Taking that first big step in the relationship is hard for people that want to take things slow as shown from Ben ((junior Cole Joseph) and Andy (senior Michael Daniels), when Andy was so scared to take that one big step by showing the world who he was in love with. 

As shown from the show, that one first big step, could just be holding the other’s hand.

Then, in the fourth vignette, the runaway groom may not be the only one in the relationship that no longer wants to answer “yes” to a future together. 

Then, a married couple believes they still love each other, but have their doubts because one of them is constantly bored by their partner as time ticks by. (In this case, a toy gun was brought in to liven up the relationship, but that may not accurately portray less psychotic and less tech-addicted couples).

In the form of another couple, the boredom is replaced with a plate of infidelity and a side of salmon at the weekly luncheon. 

A woman in a couple that was beginning to get bored because she wanted a child, while her husband never wanted one. 

One mom felt that her children had become her whole life and she had lost herself. While the other mom feels she was losing connection with her partner, and losing the love they once had. 

Then, a man and a woman with history met again at a SuperCenter; they thought meeting tagain was destiny. But, after looking back at all the signs in their relationship – love at first sight, going too fast and not slow enough, boredom, affairs, and inevitable heartbreak- maybe their love just was not meant to be.

The show ends as it started, with another young couple meeting at a grocery store and falling for each other instantly; repeating the cycle of love to heartbreak to acceptance once again. 

Despite the dark side of the show exposing how heartbreak is, well, inevitable in some cases, there were more than a few laughs let out by myself and the audience around me. 

Actually, few may be an understatement. I laughed, at the very least, every three minutes. Honestly, if you saw the show and you did not even laugh at anything junior Pierce Docherty said during his vignette, you are not human. 

Despite the winter show mostly being known for an upperclassmen play, Love/Sick had a diverse age range of actors. The show had some familiar faces such as juniors Kailey Albus and Cole Joseph, among seniors Martha Clifford and Abby Wickman. Some of the lesser known, but by no measure any less talented and hilarious as their upperclassmen counterparts, actors included freshmen John Turelli and Sarah Mack, and sophomore Ruby Stockton. Then, some students joined theater only recently including seniors Teddy Hill and Will Pattie, and junior Brad Norkus, but if you were in the audience you would doubt that Love/Sick was one of the first shows they’ve ever done. 

Beyond the strong actors, and borderline comedians, of the performance, the lighting and set crew did a fantastic job. Before every vignette, there was a light shined over the stage in the design of something that would represent the upcoming vignette: wedding bells, hearts, etc. The set itself was simple: the structure of a home. Personally, I thought the set in its simplicity was perfect; ; it resembled what every love tries to achieve, which is finding and creating a home with your partner. 

In between each vignette, the stage crew would run across the stage with more faces than I had ever seen before in stage crew; there were very few fumbles or mistakes the crew made, as usual, they were the healthy backbone of the show. 

After the show was finished, there was a standing ovation because of the actors phenomenal performance of the play. The cast truly portrayed what love is like, even if they may not have fully experienced themselves. 

Now, as I’m here single writing a review about a dark romantic comedy, only a few days away from Valentine’s Day, I think Love/Sick served as a therapy session for me to say: Hey, maybe it’s okay I’m not in a relationship, because love is only a vicious cycle that may end up with heartbreak.