Strategic Love Play (Flight Path) ★★★½

Written by Miriam Battye. Sharehouse Productions. Flight Path Theatre. 25-29 Aug 2026.

Dating sucks. And that reality is the fuel behind Miriam Battye’s caustic rom-com Strategic Love Play, which sees two singles drop the pretence to get what they really want… but will it actually work?

An unnamed Woman (Georgia-Paige Theodos) and Man (Caleb Jamieson) meet in a bar for a blind date. He’s recently single after his girlfriend moved to America (it’s more complicated than that), and she’s been single dating for so long she has no more f*cks to give. He’s nice. She’s sarcastic. He doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. All she wants is some honesty. Over 70 minutes, they talk it all out.

Strategic Love Play is a single conversation that ducks and weaves its way around the world of dating. It’s well-worn territory, but Battye skips the usual moaning about dating apps and gender politics and homes in on the hypocrisy underneath it all — dating requires people to subtly lie about themselves to try to impress another person who is also subtly lying about themself. What if everyone just spoke the truth, laid all their weird deal-breakers on the table, and asked for the things they really want?

Despite not having character names, the Man and Woman are not universal stand-ins. The two characters are constantly being layered with depths, slowly revealed to the audience. Thankfully, Theodos and Jamieson are both charming enough to hold the audience for 70 straight minutes of chat, and good enough actors to deliver these roles with nuance and a sense of fresh discovery.

Director Ava Rusch has a nice sense of timing that keeps this conversation from feeling stale, finding new ways to keep the characters physically moving (although I was horrified the moment Woman left her credit card unattended on the bar table). In a wonderful display of the extravagances only fringe theatre can afford, the stage includes four other couples sitting at tables who do nothing but fake “rhubarb-rhubarb” conversations in half-light to fill out the space. Kudos to the ensemble for pitching in with little personal reward.

Sound Designer Otto Zagala brings a mix of bar ambiance and subtly changing music that helps to give the scene dynamics (oh, and a quote from me in their bio! Lol, that’s a first, I think). Similarly, lighting by Lila Browning conveys a warmth and intimacy to the large Flight Path stage space.

Miriam Battye’s dialogue is a fantastic showcase for performers, giving the two leads space for comedy, romance, heartbreak and drama, making for an easily entertaining hit of theatre.