It is a difficult task that writer Paul Kalburgi and his talented cast of three have set themselves and, to some extent, pull off. This is a rom-com, sort of, but with a heavy dose of sadness and even at times it felt self-loathing thrown in (why else would our protagonist torment herself with both with the reality of the modern dating scene and the fantasy of Hollywood love, through backdrop scenes of celluloid snogging and movie montages, when her own romantic life has taken such a distressing turn, leaving her stuck somewhere in the five stages of grief in an almost unfurnished and untidy flat?). As such, seeking to straddle different ends of the emotional spectrum – love and despair, with quite a bit of frustration and anger thrown in – and to walk a fine line in narrative terms between fantasy and reality made for an absorbing, if not always wholly believable evening, wrestling in an amusing fashion (there is still com here, even if the rom is done differently) with the age-old question of whether it is better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all.
Actually, Ginny – Miranda Colmans, looking too young to be in her forties, but skillfully skirting if not breaking the fourth wall to lead us through her life, stuck in a cinematic rut, barely coping with a broken heart and unsure if this is as good as it is going to get – has not given up on love completely, even though her deceased fiancée, Gerry (named in part to allow the play a final Hollywood nod to Now Voyager) still casts a long shadow over events, notably in the second act partly set in Paris. We begin our tale as she seeks to dip her toe into the dating pool again, primarily on-line, despite the skepticism of her mother, Trish (one of the many memorable characters played by Eliza Williams, rivalled only by her role as Penny, the horrendous former school bully brought back into Ginny’s life to passive aggressively torment her once again, flaunting her success and puncturing Ginny’s fantasies). Cyril Blake, playing all of the male characters in a range of accents and romantic poses, showcases some of the more problematic elements of an online romance, with a smorgasbord of saddoes, perverts and fetishists, all claiming to seek love but actually, as memorably put by one character, seeking permission to masturbate in her socks! The clash between fantasy and reality – one of the themes of the play – could not be any starker.
Eventually, in amongst the limited real-life encounters – one horrendous date with a wig fetishist (you learn something new every day!), some stilted banter with an Ikea shop assistant (that feels unnecessary at the time, making the already understandably awkward scene transitions even more difficult by bringing a bed on stage for little reason at the time) and a pesky postman who never seems to deliver at the right time (the show is good at capturing some of the everyday frustrations that much of the audience will have encountered, from cold calling claimants to the dangers of Facebook stalking, especially when drunk) – and online flirtations (some of which are amusingly short), one contender, Sebastian, emerges as a possible return to her romantic roots in Paris, where Jerry proposed. While trying to avoid spoilers here, it is fair to say the course of true love does not run smoothly, and the blurred lines of fantasy and reality play out in a shorter second act.
The French connection – while allowing for some of the funnier lines, from Trish’s questioning of Sebastian as a genuine option to Ginny’s painful GSCE French responses when she makes it to Paris in search of her new love – does stretch the narrative credibility a little. It was already under a bit of a strain when first Ginny – who clearly does not like Penny nor want anything to do with her – and then Sebastian – who does not know any of them – agree to go to her wedding (although it does have a very fine comic payoff). We are then asked to believe that a depressed and angry Ginny, armed with at best rudimentary phrases that will ring true to people of my generation (Ou est la gare? is not helpful in most social situations!), would potentially fall for someone so far away from her, in a country where she cannot communicate. This seemed less credible – but love does do crazy things to you and Paris is not just about finding a new future but also resolving a past she has been hanging onto for perhaps too long (the use of Casablanca and its message worked well, both as a visual cue and clever story framing)
In fact, there is a lot for movie lovers to enjoy on the margins of the central plot line, whether it is seeking to identify the black-and-white classics beamed in the background (both to fill some of the gaps for scene changes and to reinforce Ginny’s profession and passion with Jerry) or the clever use of music to frame a scene, from the ominous Jaws music to Lady and the Tramp. While it needed a crisper, perhaps less meta ending – the show seemed to almost resolve itself multiple times before settling on a more optimistic note – there is a lot to enjoy here. Perhaps it is time to give the multiplex a miss this time – and opt for a more realistic rom-com instead.
It runs until 3 October.
Review: David Brown