Provocative US playwright and film maker Neil LaBute hasn’t had a stage premiere in this country for years, and some odd business went down in 2018 when the prestigious off-Broadway venue MCC Theater abruptly announced the termination of its relationship with him, for reasons that were never made public. Since then he’s worked in film and TV, but his only major new stage work was a show that premiered in Germany. Whatever happened, UK premiere How to Fight Loneliness is in fact from 2017 and therefore slightly predates the falling out with the US theatre scene so, er, it’s probably fine.
Directed by Lisa Spirling – soon to take over as artistic director of Stratford East – LaBute’s play concerns Jodi and Brad, a happy couple whose lives are abruptly turned upside down, forcing them to turn to a shady figure from her past.
