A darkened room with a figure tied to a chair – are we ready for Shaniqua Benjamin’s warmly delivered monologue? We hear ’I love you’ but what are the audience supposed to do with that? Shaniqua invites the audience to untie her before she opens her heart to Croydon, with strong narrative of her boyfriend who introduces her to love but then takes it away. We understand her relationships with people at random, and then longer bonds. But are they deeper? Shaniqua asks the audience to choose a song to sing with her, which proves how quickly trust develops. Destiny’s Child, no less! She gives out many tiny handwritten love notes and mine read, ‘Love changes us’ and ‘You are seen’. We reflect and feel her pain and her joy in this spiritual illustration of her life and love journey. When she ends with I Love You, some say that they do too.
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