Streaming: May 6 – 17, 2025

Ngozi Anyanwu Energizes Paired Monologues with Music, Dance

by Zack Rogow

Theater and movies about love stories almost always show us the lead-up to a romance. It’s rare that we hear about the mechanics of an actual relationship, and even less frequent that a plot focuses on the aftermath of a deep love. But that’s what Crowded Fire Theater has done in their new production of Ngozi Anyanwu’s moving play, “The Last of the Love Letters: A Meditation on Loneliness.”

“Love Letters” is made up of two monologues where a genderqueer couple who have split up never meet again face-to-face—except in fantasy. And yet the play is bristling with drama, because these caring people are desperate to figure out what went wrong. How could the love of their lives, their deepest secrets and ecstasies, have gone sour?

Curiously, both monologues begin without words. In the first, Farrah Hamzeh plays “You,” starting with a snaky dance that celebrates her body, in a loose jacket, silk camisole, and pink shorts. She teases us by almost biting into a juicy apple, and then devouring it. Like a latter-day Eve, she swallows the fruit of Knowledge—but without  sin.

You can’t take your eyes off Hamzeh. Whether acting, dancing, or singing with flair, she radiates Hollywood charisma. In her monologue, she excavates the remains of the love she’s just lost, layer by layer. She recounts her role as a “pleaser,” trying to become her mate’s fantasy.

She describes beautifully how his adoration made her feel “anointed” and “knighted.” But that love came with a loss of her true self. With nuance and subtlety, she asks provocative questions: “Can you mourn someone who did not know how to love?” “How did you know that by making me everything, you made me nothing?” Hamzeh’s You emerges with a bittersweet sense of loss, but with a greater knowledge of herself.

Gabriele Christian as You No. 2, also begins without words. But You No. 2 is silenced by a bottomless grief for their lost love. Christian brings humor—and compelling rage—to his role.

Both lovers have moved far from gender-conformity. Larger powers intervene to try to erase their relationship, adding impact about gender politics to the play’s personal drama.

Director Nailah Harper-Malveaux’s and designer Brendan Yungert’s spare set serves both monologues. They use a lamp ingeniously: for “You,” the lamp, with a fringed retro shade, matches the elegance of her allure. You No. 2 cradles the lamp stripped of its shade, speaking to the bare bulb as if conjuring their absent lover.

Brilliantly, the director and scenic designer use shadows projected from behind a scrim to bring to life the thoughts of the character You No. 2. It’s a poignant moment in a drama filled with unexpectant insights on intimacy. “The Last of the Love Letters” will please theatergoers who resonate with genderqueer relationships, and those who like reflecting deeply on passion and romance.

“The Last of the Love Letters: A Meditation on Loneliness” by Ngozi Anyanwu, directed by Nailah Unole dida-Nese’ah Harper-Malveaux, scenic design by Brendan Yungert, costumes by Jasmine Milan Williams, lighting by Spense Matubang, sound by Jules Indelicato, and choreography by Adin Walker.

Crowded Fire Theater, at Z Space, San Francisco. Info: crowdedfire.org – to May 3, 2025. Streaming: May 6 – 17, 2025

Cast: Farrah Hamzeh (You), Gabriele Christian (You No. 2), and hodari blue (Person).

Banner photo: Farrah Hamzeh. Photos: Cheshire Isaacs

Zack Rogow is a playwright, poet, and literary translator based in Berkeley.