Full marks to Janie Lawson for unearthing this little Jem; assembling a cast who know exactly how to perform it, then showcasing those talents with an impressive production that displayed them to perfection.
Although described as a musical, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is essentially a collection of short individual vignettes, rather in the style of the famed Phillip Street revues, with no connection to each other than, in this case, commenting on changes in dating practices and relationships over a lifetime.
Originally written in 2018, this version of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change has been updated to comment on same-sex relationships, dating apps, speed dating and dating in later life.
The challenge for the actors is to immerse themselves in quickly creating, with broad strokes, rather like a cartoonist, believable characters who are immediately engaging, interesting, hopefully funny, or all three.
According to the publicity, Amelia Anderson-Nickson, Sarah Copley, Deborah O’Toole, David Pearson, Connor McNaught and Sam Thomson, between them, create 58 such character’s during 19 separate sketches. However, don’t distract yourself trying to verify these statistics because what those characters do is much too entertaining.
Favourite moments for this writer were David Pearson’s brilliantly scary, hysterically funny mass murderer, which he contrasted as a gentle, late-life husband poignantly wondering Should I be Less in Love With You?, and again as a cheeky senior chatting up a prospect at a funeral deciding I Can Live With That.
For both these items Pearson was teamed with Deborah O’Toole, who revealed, not only charming range and presence, but also a gorgeous contralto, with her rendition of the bitter-sweet, I Will be Loved Tonight.
Sarah Copley fascinated with her funny/sad widow struggling with posting The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz, while Sam Thomson charmed as the new father alarmed by his personality changes brought on by the arrival of a new baby.
Amelia Anderson-Nickson scored with Always a Bridesmaid Never a Bride, and her snappy Marriage Tango with Connor McNaught, for which Amy Campbell had provided inventive choreography.
Campbell’s clever choreography is an outstanding feature throughout the show, while McNaught’s comedic gifts were on full display, together with those of O’Toole, Anderson-Nickson and Thomson, in a cheeky sketch entitled When a Man Texts a Woman – A Picture of a Penis.
Cate Clelland’s uncluttered chess-inspired setting, along with Louise Newey’s attractive costume designs, realised in various shades of red, black or white, added a professional gloss to the production, as did Craig Muller’s evocative lighting, and James McPherson’s sound.
Special mention also of the contribution of keyboard player, Leo Amadeus, who together with Laura Lay on violin, provided charming accompaniment for the many clever songs which make up this score.
17-year-old Amadeus impressed with his theatrical savvy and alertness with intros and play off music. No doubt, during the run of the show, he’ll work on his inclination to play too loudly on those occasions when a little more sensitivity is required to avoid drowning the all-important lyrics, but as this is also his first musical directing assignment, he is already very impressive.
Lawson’s thoughtful solutions to details such as inventive entrances and exits, smart directorial decisions like eliminating unnecessary props and weaving the placing of any necessary furniture by the cast, into the action, not only kept the show flowing seamlessly, but marked her directorial debut as very impressive, and boding well for her future ventures as a director.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
ACT Hub at Causeway Hall, 14 Spinifex Street, Kingston (Canberra)
Performance: Wednesday 26 August 2026
Season continues to 5 September 2026
Information and Bookings: www.acthub.com.au
Images: I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change – photos by Janelle McMenamin
Review: Bill Stephens OAM