Strategic Love Play Reviews

Washington Post- Recommended

"...Battye's script indicates her characters are "about thirty." The casting of Danny Gavigan and Bligh Voth - both tall, attractive people with good hair who scan as a bit older than that - is almost a corrective, in that this Man and Woman seem too ground down and scarred over to be that young. Both performers are dimensional and compelling, clearly relishing the opportunity to play the complete arc of a relationship in a show that runs a svelte 75 minutes."

DC Theater Arts- Recommended

"...If you are still under the illusion that online dating in 2025 is anything other than a hellscape of half-hearted swipes, scripted introductions, and painfully awkward first dates, Miriam Battye - the playwright behind Strategic Love Play, playing through November 9 in an area premiere at Arlington's Signature Theatre - is here to absolve you of that notion once and for all."

MetroWeekly- Recommended

"...A lighthearted yet occasionally caustic look at "the perils and ridiculousness of dating in the age of swiping," as director Matthew Gardiner put it on press night, the play takes place entirely inside the bar where the Man (Danny Gavigan) and the Woman (Bligh Voth) meet for their date."

BroadwayWorld- Not Recommended

"...All of this said, there's an intriguing idea at the center of this play: the idea of choosing to be with someone, as they are, rather than continuing the exhausting and demoralizing process of going through the motions of dating over and over, constantly confronted with the ideas of failure or that the next person will be the right choice, the right fit. As previously noted, the Woman's proposal to just choose each other and build a life isn't totally radical - after all, arranged marriages, marriages of convenience, and nonromantic partnerships have all existed across human cultures and history - but feels radical in a day and age when the apps promise our perfect match."