Amber is a typical coming-of-age love story – except it isn’t.

The play opens with teenage Amber lying on her bed in a pink-tinted room. The bed is adorned with a pink gingham heart pillow, a Twilight book, and a teen magazine. She writes in her notebook with a purple sparkly pen.

Amber is brainy and bold – not cool, not blond, and, in her words, “too smart to be attractive”. She dreams of finding love. She wants her love to be like a Molly Ringwald ‘80s romance. The problem? She keeps pushing love away. Even when she meets the love of her life, Luca, she doesn’t feel the timing is right. She waits for that perfect rom-com moment.

Her story is a reminder to not hold back – to take the opportunties life presents, because the future is uncertain. Amber’s love story transforms into a story of grief and heartbreak. At 19, the future she had imagined is permanently erased. Still chasing love, she moves through grief – losing control, shifting blame, exploding in anger, and breaking down emotionally.

Presented through vignettes, the play shifts through Amber’s memories. It’s a one-woman performance with supporting characters (Harry Stacey, Ashan Kumar, Kurt Ramjan and Esha Jessy) who bring her world to life. Each plays a valuable role but it’s Nikita Waldron – winner of the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission (2021) – who shines as Amber.

It’s no suprise Waldron excels in the role – she is also the playwright, and in part, this is her story. Amber is a love letter to those we’ve lost.  Waldron wrote her first play after losing her best friend at 19, vowing to tell the world how remarkable he was. This was followed by a second tragedy – the loss of another dear friend.

Hailley Hunt’s set design is brilliant, with constantly evolving the staging and clever carpentery touches that seamlessly create new scenes. A mirror ball drops from the celing, transforming Amber’s bedroom into a dance floor. Panels in the stage walls fold down or open up to reveal a kabab shop, a rooftop, a priest’s confessional, and even a Robert Pattinson poster. Isabel Morrissey’s lighting design further enhances each transition, adding emotional depth with colour.

Amber explores so much — love, loss, faith, atheism, hope, and unconditional love. It’s sad, funny, and deeply emotive. A poignant reminder that love and life rarely unfold as we imagine — and certainly not like a rom-com.

4 stars.

Presented by essential workers (Never Closer), Amber is playing at the Old Fitz Theatre, until 11 April 2025.

For tickets visit Old Fitz Theatre