Stockholm Syndrome

It’s Todd’s birthday, he and girlfriend Kali have a special day planned. An afternoon trip to to see an Ingmar Bergman film, a lovely home cooked meal – this is long-term coupledom at its best and worse.

Red Stitch’s current production Stockholm casts a funny, gut-wrenching eye onto long term relationships. Todd and Kali, about to depart on a trip to Stockholm, spend the night fucking and fighting. It covers raw and familiar territory, how couples become so adept at giving each other ecstasy and just as swiftly cutting to the bone.

Brett Cousins and Luisa Hastings Edge as Todd and Kali are phenomenally lucid. Their chemistry and movement is almost ballet, and completely mesmerising. The set resembles the hull of a whaling ship – cold, bare, exposed and clinical. A pool ladder between the floors echoes the message of depth and danger.

Sink to the bottom or swim to the top, if we keep holding onto each other we will drown. Stockholm’s subtlety runs its fingers over your subconscious, using tenderness, humour and tragedy in equal parts. Highly recommended.