Love Quirks
Heartbreak. It tears us apart, but can it bring us together? Four flatmates unexpectedly find themselves living together whilst they face the trials and tribulations of love.
This show made its debut at St Luke’s Theatre in 2020 for 2 weeks. It then went to AMT Theatre in 2022 before a run at Hofstra University in 2024. The current run at The Other Palace marks the show’s official Off West End Debut.
The show has a very eclectic design aesthetic that seems to be a jumble of the styles of all the different characters, which comes across as lacking cohesion. Why does this matter? Because it creates a sense of separatism, meaning that from the outset we aren’t entirely sure what the purpose is of these characters being a part of the same story.
This purpose doesn’t come through in either Mark Childers’s book or in Seth Bisen-Hersh’s lyrics and compositions. Whilst the lives of these characters do intersect on technical levels, we feel as if we are watching four separate stories happening one beside the other. The strongest of these being Ryan’s, which we feel deserves a whole musical by itself.
So what is the story actually about? The various ways we find ourselves heartbroken in the modern world of dating, why dating seems to be such a problem nowadays and how we move on and recover from these struggles.
A very strong premise with lots of potential, if only we didn’t feel as if we were watching four short stories entangled together by convenient circumstances. We wonder if this musical might work better as a song cycle, especially given that we find the songs to be very hit and miss with their sporadic rhyme schemes, meaning that the songs aren’t memorable. Not to mention that they seem to lack an interconnected through line, meaning that we see four disjointed arcs in the same space.
The characters themselves are very likeable and very relatable, pulled off by a cast of equally talented musical theatre performers. Of particular note is Lewis Bear Brown, who plays Ryan. He absolutely owns the stage and arguably creates the most nuanced and believable characterisation in the show.
This show was reviewed on the 25th September 2025 at The Other Palace, London where it runs until the 12th October 2025. Tickets available here: Love Quirks: A New Musical - The Other Palace Theatre
Review written by Megan O'Neill
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Photo credit: Anna Clare Photography
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