About the Play:

LUV has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, Female/Female Scenes, Female/Male Scenes, Male/Male Scenes, and Three-Person Scenes.

LUV is a full-length comedy by Murray Schisgal. Two college friends – misfit Harry and materialistic Milt – are serendipitously reunited when the latter stops the former from jumping off a bridge. Each discovers the other is equally miserable as they share hard-luck stories before hatching a plan to find their happily-ever-afters. LUV is a humourous celebration of the absurd lengths humans go to when struck down with the terrible affliction known as 'love'.

LUV is a farce/absurdist comedy of errors about three people, two college friends and the wife of one of them, who share stories of their miserable lives on top of a bridge. There is Harry Berlin who has plumbed the depths of despair and hit rock bottom. He has no future except to jump off the bridge and is about to do so when Milt Manville, a brash egoist with a facade of success and satisfaction, comes along and talks Harry out of jumping. Milt and Harry turn out to be college classmates. As Harry, in his rags, reveals the depth of his despair Milt, a picture of prosperity, is all sympathy and then confesses that he also is full of frustration, because his wife won't divorce him so he can marry the woman he loves. Then Milt's wife, Ellen, appears and Milt has an idea of how to make both of their lives better: if Harry believes in love then he'll have a reason to live, and if Milt can help Harry and his wife Ellen to fall in love he can can run off with his mistress Linda. But is 'happily ever after' quite as simple as that? A triangle of the absurd ensues that in the tradition of all great comedy revels in alienation, the loss of identity, inability to communicate, self expression and the meaninglessness of it all.

LUV premiered in 1964 at the Booth Theatre on Broadway in New York City. One of Broadway's brightest comedy hits, it ran for more than two years, transferring a total of three times over the course of its 900+ performance run. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional repertory, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 1 female, 2 male

What people say:

"What playwright Schisgal has done is to turn the theatre of the absurd upside down." — Time Magazine

"…an evening of unalloyed pleasure, of sustained and perfect comedy, of total, tempestuous and glorious glee." — New York World-Telegram & Sun

"…the answer to a theater-goer's prayer." — New York Herald-Tribune

"…delicious spoof on a multitude of matters…." — New York Times

"A little gem…." — The Jewish Chronicle

About the Playwright:

Murray Schisgal (1926-2020) was a Tony and Academy Award nominated American playwright and screenwriter best known for co-writing the screenplay for Tootsie. He attended Brooklyn Law School from which he graduated in 1953. He practised law until 1956 and then taught English for three years. He had an extensive career spanning writing plays, novels, anthologies, science fiction, and play producing. He has a star on the Playwrights Sidewalk for Off-Broadway Achievement in New York. He has also produced several films and television programs.