Overview
From the giddy heights of first love to the cruel depths of utter heartbreak and everything in-between is the subject matter of The Last Five Years, the compelling debut production from Last Tapes Theatre Company.
In this stripped back play directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand, New Yorkers Jamie Wellerstein (Tyran Parke) and Cathy Hiatt (Cherie Moore) sing their way through the significant moments of their five-year relationship. Accompanied by an excellent trio of musicians who sit unassumingly to the right of the stage, the songs the couple deliver don’t come across as clumsy add-ons but rather as the powerful vehicle through which the story is conveyed.
Cathy, a struggling actress waiting for her big break, meets Jamie who’s on the cusp of becoming the next big thing in the literary world. They fall in love but the cracks quickly begin to emerge. The audience hears their versions of events in reverse order. We meet Cathy, devastated by the failure of their marriage. Immediately afterwards we’re introduced to Jamie, who’s just about jumping out of his skin he’s so excited to have met ‘the one’. They continue on singing solo, jumping into different points of their story but tellingly, they rarely intersect.
The fact this story is one that’s so heartfelt is as much a testament to the extremely clever scriptwriting and musical composition of Jason Robert Brown as it is to the depth of the actors’ abilities. It’s easy to get swept up in the myriad of emotions expressed by Moore and Parke, who at various points had audience members laughing out loud.
At times it’s hard to watch because of the destructive natures of the two characters who seem too self absorbed to really know how to love. After leaving the theatre, I couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated with them, not because the storyline was unconvincing but because the strength of their performances had engaged me enough to believe in their flawed characters – now that's exactly what I love about watching good live performance.