Why Am I So Single? opens with two actors on stage impersonating the play’s writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. You may not recognise the names but you’ve probably heard of their smash-hit, Six, which re-imagined the tragic wives of Henry VIII as glamorous pop divas. This follow-up show is a spoof of vintage musicals and it’s deliberately knowing and self-referential. That’s why the authors are played by members of the cast, and they start with a few disparaging quips about Mamma Mia! and other West End fare. They even call the audience at the Garrick ‘riff-raff’, which seems a little charmless. The actors then morph into two new characters, Oliver and Nancy, who write together, like the authors, and who need inspiration for a show that’s just been commissioned by the Garrick’s managers. See? It’s very self-regarding – and perhaps a tad smug.
This show is clever, fleet-footed and endlessly funny, but the opening insult leaves a bad taste
We flash back to Oliver and Nancy’s first meeting, where they bonded over their shared love of Oliver! by Lionel Bart and laughed like mad when they discovered that they’d both been named after the show’s best-loved characters. Back in their shared bedsit, they cast around for ideas. Perhaps their failed attempts to find love online could provide the requisite material? Yes indeed. The script develops into a parody of modern dating culture with numerous references to American sitcoms and the back-catalogue of classic musicals. It may sound awful but this show is clever, fleet-footed and endlessly funny. However, the opening insult leaves a bad taste. You can’t dismiss your entire audience as ‘riff-raff’. If you throw that barb at the upper circle you can get the punters in the cheap seats to laugh at themselves and everyone else will join in.
The witty script is complemented by cartoonish costumes that poke fun at the threadbare furniture in shabby-chic apartments. One actor plays a fridge with a hinged door that opens and shuts. Another impersonates a standard lamp with a functioning lightbulb on a pull-string. These designs are good enough to be sold as merchandise.
The music is unpredictable and full of strange surprises. A song that starts as a prayer about a lost jumper develops into a parable on the theme of abandoned love. Another tune is a tap-dance number that mocks our fixation with tap-tap-tapping on our screens all the time. An obvious idea. Why didn’t someone else think of it? There’s a touch of the Beatles about Marlow and Moss. They pick up the discarded scraps of popular culture and fashion them into pleasing and unlikely new shapes.
The cast serve the material brilliantly. Jo Foster is fantastic value as Oliver, despite his habit of winking and pointing at random spectators as if he knows them personally. Leesa Tulley (Nancy) has an engaging and sardonically funny persona and a fantastic vocal range. She even throws in a few operatic flourishes to show off her skills in the upper register. Noah Thomas catches the eye as the heartthrob, Artie, who likes to gossip with Nancy and Oliver. ‘What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s a-happening?’ he says, quoting a refrain from Jesus Christ Superstar. You have to pay attention to catch all the references. That’s part of the fun. The international success of Six has spawned a host of copycat shows whose quality is rather variable. The imitators will now flock to the Garrick in the hope of replicating this dazzling effort. Stick with the original. This is a massive, joyous, sensational hit.
Park200 has a topical show about sexual abuse allegations. 23.5 Hours by Carey Crim tells the story of Tom, a devoted English teacher, who serves two years in jail for molesting the lead actress in a school production of Romeo and Juliet. After his release, Tom returns home to a rather chilly welcome. His best buddy believes his version of events but his wife, Leigh, harbours secret doubts. ‘It was a hug. I was comforting a distraught student,’ says Tom who claims that his accuser told the police a pack of lies.
The family home is besieged by vigilantes who spray graffiti on the front door and lob rocks at windows
The family home is besieged by vigilantes who spray graffiti on the front door and lob rocks through the windows, and the telephone glows red-hot with nuisance phone calls. The interiors are beautifully furnished by designer Carla Goodman and the central performance by Lisa Dwan (Leigh) is heartbreaking to watch. In public, she defends her husband and yet she can’t bring herself to normalise their sexual relationship. It’s her knife-edge uncertainty that makes the play compelling.
The second half brings a superbly concealed surprise about Tom’s past which casts their marriage in a completely different light. The brilliance of the twist is that Leigh knows about it already. If you enjoy a thriller that keeps you guessing, this one’s for you.
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