When the independent and free-spirited Leon (Andrew Buckland) is abandoned at the altar by his bride to be, he is left literally holding the baby. From his grief comes a singular resolve: to travel the country with his infant daughter, Ginny (Liezl de Kock), until he finds his lost love and their trinity can be reunited. His quest quickly becomes an obsession, and at each town they reach where she isn’t, he tattoos that town name on his skin.

It is now some fifteen years later. Ginny is coming of age and starting to realise the desire to achieve her own independence, while he has retreated into alcoholism and despair and his body has become a veritable roadmap of tattoos. As their individual obsessions spiral out of control, and they become lost in their own personal routines and mythologies, a massive shift in their relationship is imminent – if they have the courage and conviction to break out of their own cycles.

Inspired by an episode in John Irving’s Until I Find You, and told in a captivating blend of physical and visual performance, Crazy in Love is a paean to love and its ensuing madness.

“I’ve always been captivated by deceptively small human stories that tell a much larger archetypal tale,” says director, Rob Murray. “And two that have always stuck with me have been James (Cuningham) and Helen’s (Iskander) Baobabs don’t grow here and John Wright’s On the verge of exploding. And in many ways Crazy in Love pays homage to these, as well as existing in its own right in the telling of a very moving and hilarious tale.”

This is the fourth work created by the “open door collective” that is A Conspiracy of Clowns. Other work it has produced have been the smash hit Pictures of You, Kardiavale, and Benchmarks. While the collective is not confined to one style, what runs like creative DNA through their work is a very strong emphasis on collaboration in the creation of their unique stories. “Liez and Andrew are fantastic together on stage,” continues Murray. “Which we saw last year while creating Through Blue for Ubom!. The kind of stage chemistry they tap into is very rare and one we couldn’t ignore, so looked for the vehicle to best provoke that.”

Design has always featured prominently in Conspiracy works, from the captivating masks and sets in Pictures of You and Benchmarks, as well as the grungy underworld noir of Kardiavale, and Crazy in Love is no exception. “We were very fortunate to get Jayne Batzofin to come play with us,” enthuses performer and co-artistic director, Liezl de Kock, “And she has really made the world come alive. From the gritty day to day life of Dad and Ginny to Ginny’s obsessive, almost fetishist, shrine to her missing mother – Jayne has given us so many toys to play with.”

With a stellar pedigree of Murray, Buckland, De Kock, and Batzofin, Crazy of Love looks forward to its season at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. It premieres on Thursday, 27 June at 19:30 in a special “pay what you can” NAF initiative. Thereafter it plays every day until the end of festival with all performances at Glennie Hall.

For specific times and dates please refer to the NAF programme guide on www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or book at Computicket. Tickets are R55 and R45 (concessions).