REVIEW: For the Sake of Love - Sun and Wine Arts Company

For the Sake of Love

Sun and Wine Arts Company

Wonargo Revue, Brisbane

Writer: Claire Yorston

Director: Cherie McCaffery

Cast:

Amber Lawson as Julia

Reagan Warner as Mark

Ben Kasper as Oliver

Laura Renee as Ash

Cristian Stanic as Jacob

Hayden Parsons as Josh

Claire Yorston as Sophie

Emma King as Lucy

Hamish Chappell as Cupid

Valentine’s Day may be about love... but in this office it seems to be about very questionable decision-making. For the Sake of Love quickly proves that the subject is rarely simple. Presented by Sun and Wine Arts Company at the Wonargo Revue, this original Brisbane work takes the romantic comedy format and reshapes it into something a little messier, a little more honest, and far more relatable.

The intimacy of the venue meant there was nowhere to hide. The audience sat just a few feet from the in-the-round action, close enough to catch every awkward glance, overheard confession, and workplace misunderstanding. I loved feeling like the wallflower colleague watching the office drama unfold from my seat.

Written by Claire Yorston, this play unfolds in the office of a book publishing company, where eight colleagues navigate a tangled web of attraction, heartbreak, friendship, and self-discovery over the course of a year. Imagine a relationship chart that starts to resemble a conspiracy board as feelings shift, overlap, and collide. Colour-coded books cover the desks, wheeled office chairs are labeled with each character’s name on the back, and the layout suggests different corners of the office without needing elaborate scenery. Lighting from all sides, including hanging bulbs overhead, washes the space in alternating pink, blue, and white tones. Basically, the only thing missing was a coffee machine, a water cooler, and someone loudly microwaving their lunch in the break room.

And then, there is Cupid…

Hamish Chappell appears intermittently as the mischievous instigator of the entire affair, sporting wings, a towel-like diaper, a bushy beard, and occasionally a necktie for good measure. Because it turns out even Cupid has to look business casual. His entrances always earn a ripple of laughter from the crowd and serve as an odd reminder that love may arrive when nobody asked for it. Even the interval keeps the theme alive, with audience members invited to scribble anonymous love notes to the cast aww!

What I appreciated most about Claire Yorston’s writing is that it resists the usual romantic comedy shortcuts. Attraction here is fluid. Love can be unrequited, fleeting, complicated, or entirely unexpected. Rather than leaning on familiar tropes, the script allows each character to explore their own perspective on connection, desire, and vulnerability. Chances are you will recognise a little bit of yourself in at least one of them.

The dialogue feels particularly authentic. Much of the script consists of quick office banter that swings between gossip, awkward silences, flirty encounters, and tension. It captures the rhythm of workplace conversations remarkably well. People talk over each other, misread situations, overshare, and say the wrong thing. The office dynamics here quickly become complicated enough that HR would almost definitely step in.

Cherie McCaffery’s direction keeps the space in constant motion. Characters weave around one another, shifting chairs and furniture as conversations spark, overlap, or fizzle out. At times scenes play simultaneously, with characters sharing the same room yet existing in completely different emotional worlds. With the staging continually shifting perspective, they prevent the energy from settling for too long. And they even occasionally throw in a spontaneous dance break as an unexpected reset.

Structurally, the play follows the characters across more than a year of office life, giving each person a chance to reveal their inner thoughts through a dedicated monologue. These moments are not always profound or poetic, but that is the point. Sometimes they simply allow us to hear what the character is thinking and feeling that the others cannot. Everyone gets their moment to speak their truth; and I enjoyed every single monologue delivery.

The ensemble works well together, creating a believable workplace dynamic. Claire Yorston as Sophie comes across as hard-working, sweet, impulsive, and the kind of colleague who genuinely wants everyone around her to succeed. Laura Renee delivers a layered performance as Ash, balancing a fun exterior with underlying insecurity. Her character’s emotional arc is particularly affecting, and she captures the heartbreak within her storyline so beautifully.

Ben Kasper stands out as Oliver, a character who initially seems destined to fade into the background. Instead, he becomes one of the most interesting figures on stage. Oliver talks far too much, often revealing more than he intends, and exists in that curious space between self-aware and completely oblivious. What makes him compelling is that beneath the "nice guy" act he truly is a good person.

Emma King as Lucy, (basically Rapunzel), is equally memorable. She portrays someone hilariously and hopelessly devoted to a love that can never materialise. Lucy is charming, funny, and disarmingly sincere.

Hayden Parsons brings a quiet intensity to Josh, playing the character with a thoughtful, introverted seriousness. Cristian Stanic leans fully into Jacob’s flamboyant theatricality, creating a character who is dramatic, loud, and wonderfully entertaining.

Amber Lawson’s Julia carries herself with confident authority as the boss of this incestuous work team. Her presence suggests someone accustomed to being in control, yet still navigating emotional complications of her own. Reagan Warner as Mark balances charisma with vulnerability, presenting a man who is articulate and charming until his tendency to interrupt reveals the anxiety of someone who has been hurt before.

The play is undeniably ambitious. With eight central characters and a wide network of relationships to explore, the story has a lot of ground to cover. The runtime reflects that, with a full intermission included. While the length occasionally slows the pace, it also allows each character’s storyline to develop with true care.

One small note I found myself wishing for was a stronger sense of closure from Cupid. Since he opens the story and sets events into motion, it would have been satisfying to see him return at the end to tie everything together. Still, For the Sake of Love presents an engaging and thoughtful piece of theatre. It is full of recognisable moments about the strange ways people fall in and out of love (or something like love). It can be peaceful, perplexing, painful, inconvenient, awkward, or heavenly. Rather than presenting romance as a tidy fairy tale, the show embraces the unpredictability that comes with real human relationships and all the various forms of love they contain.