‘All’s Fair in Love and Theatre’ @ Rover Dramawerks
Cover art by Geof Dail; photos by Andie Pace
—Jan Farrington
When a playwright flies from New Zealand to Texas to take a look at her new play…attention must be paid. But this can’t be the first time Lindsey Brown has gone the distance to see her work onstage: she’s had plays produced in New York, Chicago, Hollywood, London, Dubai, Sydney—and now North Texas.
Rover Dramawerks’ world premiere of Brown’s All’s Fair in Love and Theatre makes for a fun evening of backstage shenanigans and mysteries. The show’s story line shares territory with generations of theatre plotlines, but Brown’s lively writing and an especially good cast—directed with energy by Erik Knapp—keep things interesting.
Why do the lights keep going out in Studio Three? Do the theater gods have a grudge, or is someone messing with the cast trying to rehearse Suspicions and Lies, a new play that’s one of three shows (out of a thousand entries) chosen to compete in a high-stakes theatre competiiton?
Studios One and Two aren’t having a problem. Hmmm.
Experienced director Leah Harris (Danielle Elliott) comes in with equal parts hope and jitters. She knows her stuff, but this is the very first time the “Theatre Outstanding” competition will be televised, bringing different challenges and more tension. She’s nervous, and the oddball “happenings” aren’t helping. She’s accompanied by lproduction assistant Hailey (Lilly McCullough), a friend she trusts, and a studio “liaison” Ted (Aidan Fenton) she doesn’t know at all.
But beyond the studio’s wonky lights, there are other complications on Leah’s mind: The play they will perform was written by Elias Matthews (Marshall Dann)—who is Hailey’s soon-to-be ex-husband. (The divorce decree might well come on the day of the performance!) Hailey, usually a source of serenity, is definitely distracted and on edge. And then there’s event chair Charles Stoll (Ken Schwartz), who keeps dropping by to casually change rules that seem to affect nobody but this director, this ensemble, and this play.
Three other actors fill out the space: Evelyn and Val (Suzy Dotson and Sara Jones) are veteran stars, both reluctant to admit they’re not as much of a “get” as they used to be—and still steaming over a feud they could have solved between them years ago. Naturally, they jockey relentlessly for the same role in the play. Leah will need diplomacy (and aspirin) with these two. Juliet (Natalie Laboda) is the cute-as-heck ingenue—but she’s more three-dimensional than that sounds. She loves dishing with the other two actresses, and is struggling hard to stop falling in love with actors.
The precious hours are counting down to their performance as they deal with these distractions and side issues. And strong but overloaded Leah is wondering: “Will this be a win or a humiliation?”
Playwright Brown keeps plenty of balls in the air to hold our attention—adding new wrinkles to the plot, and letting us go crazy trying to guess who “the baddies” are…only to realize the trouble might be coming from a totally different quarter. She lets the characters grow as well. Early on, Elias seems harsh, but later events let us warm up to him and understand Hailey’s very mixed emotions. We decide, at some point, that Ted might be a big surprise, that Julia is way more sensible than we thought, that never-say-die Leah is the definite hero of the piece, that Val and Evelyn could become friends…and that we don’t like Charles’ moustache.
All these small-but-fun epiphanies in the audience are the direct result of Brown’s natural, confident (if plot-crowded) script, and actors who give their characters an engaging, in-the-moment amount of life. Cheers to the director who helped them get there, and to our globe-trotting playwright!
WHEN: March 12-28, 2026
WHERE: Cox Playhouse, 1517 H Avenue, Plano TX
WEB: roverdramawerks.com
