What’s the central premise of your show? Amy loves the 2003 rom-com Love Actually, but Natalie hates it. The show is a tribute/takedown, with the audience ultimately asked to decide who’s right.
How long did it take you to craft it? We’ve been friends and fellow performers for more than ten years, and every Christmas would argue over the merits of Love Actually. Eventually, we figured out that other people might have similar arguments, and the idea for a stage show was born. The writing process itself took three to four months.
What was the creative process like putting the show together? We had to watch Love Actually numerous times, which of course was a delight for Amy but sheer torture for Natalie. She can’t hear the theme music now without flinching. The passion we have onstage fighting for our respective sides is absolutely born out of heated discussions about the plot and characters during the writing process.
What’s a fun fact about your show? Love/Hate Actually is proudly written by women for women, because women are the target market for romantic comedies. And yet we’ve been amazed by how many men have flocked to the show and loved it. There are a lot of fellas out there who are secret – or not so secret – fans of the movie. And we get it – even we can agree that Colin Firth is quite lovely to behold.
What do you love about performing? There’s nothing better than making a live audience laugh. Except maybe Colin Firth.
