The Couple on the Couch

by Anne Valentino

Dylan and Radha are a married couple who’ve hit a bit of a rough patch. What’s the solution for saving their marriage? A couples therapy-based reality TV show of course! After being chosen to appear on “Couples on the Couch: The LGBT Edition,” the women quickly realize that reality television is anything but “real.” Their lives are overrun by cameras recording their every move, disembodied voices emanating from...

Dylan and Radha are a married couple who’ve hit a bit of a rough patch. What’s the solution for saving their marriage? A couples therapy-based reality TV show of course! After being chosen to appear on “Couples on the Couch: The LGBT Edition,” the women quickly realize that reality television is anything but “real.” Their lives are overrun by cameras recording their every move, disembodied voices emanating from the walls of their apartment providing helpful “direction,” not to mention a therapist whose intentions may not exactly be pure, especially given that one of the esteemed doctor’s primary backers is a group calling themselves The NEW Moral Majority; their mission: ban gay marriage once and for all. The craziness and chaos of it all eventually send Dylan and Radha on an impromptu road trip that leads to some eye-opening made-for-TV revelations.

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The Couple on the Couch

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  • Alli Hartley-Kong: The Couple on the Couch

    “Couple on the Couch” is both deathly important in its reflections on how LGBTQ folks are viewed, and hilarious at the same time. There were some real gems in this play: “Marriage is shredded wheat”, table flipping, naked showers in the middle of the kitchen, Mollie in the car, “Radha is my air.” While the play appears at first to be a laugh-out-loud-comedy about a married couple on a reality show, the sinister intent of the therapist and the television show editing soon become apparent to the audience. It's a tight play that I hope gets produced widely!

    “Couple on the Couch” is both deathly important in its reflections on how LGBTQ folks are viewed, and hilarious at the same time. There were some real gems in this play: “Marriage is shredded wheat”, table flipping, naked showers in the middle of the kitchen, Mollie in the car, “Radha is my air.” While the play appears at first to be a laugh-out-loud-comedy about a married couple on a reality show, the sinister intent of the therapist and the television show editing soon become apparent to the audience. It's a tight play that I hope gets produced widely!

Awards

  • Short List, Epiphanies New Works Festival
    2024
  • Larking House Playwrights Intensive
    Finalist
    2023
  • Pegasus Play Lab
    Finalist
    2024