GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU?
Royal Court Theatre
★★★★★
“keeping you engaged from start to end and revealing deep truths along the way”
A couple waits in a hospital room, on the brink of labour. To pass the time, they play 20 Questions, trying to guess a character.
“Am I alive?”
“Maybe?”
Small, playful moments that feel ordinary and deeply intimate.
Rosie Sheehy, as the woman in labour, invites us into her world with a blunt, feminist voice that is both exquisite and hilariously honest. Robert Aramayo plays her partner with warmth, playfulness, and unwavering support, matching her wit beat for beat. Together, they give the immediate sense of a couple who have been together forever, who know each other inside out, who can talk about absolutely anything.
Written by Luke Norris, the play is rich with beautiful humour and a powerful, deeply felt depiction of a relationship riding an emotional rollercoaster. The jokes are sharp and natural, immediately welcoming us into the profound bond these two people share.
It soon becomes clear that the humour does more than showcase their connection – it also acts as a shield, attempting to mask an underlying tension slowly rising beneath the surface. No one – neither the couple nor the audience – is prepared for what’s to come.
Sheehy and Aramayo’s performances are undeniably stunning. They hold you in a constant state of attention, your eyes fixed on them. Through silence, emotional vulnerability, and moments of lightness, they offer their entire emotional world with generosity and precision. Their chemistry is electric, allowing us to witness the full arc of their relationship and individual emotional journeys with striking clarity.
Lena Kaur also appears as the midwife, delivering a beautiful performance that is equally funny and grounded.
Directed by Jeremy Herrin, the transitions between scenes are beautifully handled. Grounded in a realistic set designed by Grace Smart, we move swiftly through hospital rooms and private spaces, travelling with the couple across different times and places as their story unfolds. We are with them in every moment of their life together.
The story confronts the hardest moments that any couple – or any person – may face. A recurring thread weaves through the play, returning us again and again to questions that intensify its emotional core:
How do I love you when the sun no longer makes sense?
How much do I love you when part of me no longer feels alive? When sadness takes over?
It is not a comforting, “everything will be fine” kind of show. It doesn’t promise happy endings or ideal outcomes. Instead, it offers truth about real relationships, real hardship, and the terrifying choice between leaving or staying. It is about facing yourself and the other at their worst, and choosing love anyway.
Guess How Much I Love You captures this with raw authenticity, keeping you engaged from start to end and revealing deep truths along the way.
A few scenes may linger slightly longer than necessary, but this is minor compared to the emotional richness the play leaves behind. A work of rare honesty – and an absolute must-see.
GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU?
Royal Court Theatre
Reviewed on 22nd January 2026
by Nasia Ntalla
Photography by Johan Persson
