Adelaide Fringe 2015
I liked you better online
Cut Tooth Theatre Company
Venue: Bakehouse Theatre
Festival: Adelaide Fringe
Low Down
I Liked You Better Online. A wry and witty comedy about the lies we tell and the characters we play to find love. From slightly bending the truth to down-right fiction we all do it. Steve and Chloe are both young, single, pug-loving, vegan, humanitarian, egalitarians; or are they?
Review
The show began with an apology from front of staff: the show’s technician was involved in a car accident and couldn’t make it to the show. Therefore a person who hadn’t seen the show before would be following the script and matching it with the lighting effects. Scary stuff! (for him more than us I expect!).
Happy to report he did a stellar job and there were only the tiniest of glitches. A couple of spotlight delays were all I noticed and didn’t affect the enjoyment at all.
I expect a last minute change like that could have been distracting, but if it was, the two stars of the show, Lara Schwerdt and Luke McMahon didn’t show any signs of unease.
A lighthearted look at romance through the lens of the modern internet dating world, saw the story unfold of Chloe and Steve.
We discovered their back stories, explaining why they hadn’t been quite so lucky in love. This was well acted and with much humour. It was just long enough to give us some background without going into too much detail nor taking away from the main storyline.
A highlight for me was when Chloe and Steve described their online profiles. Twisting the truth to make themselves appeal to the opposite sex was really amusing and something that resonated with the audience. Many chuckles and knowing nods greeted their descriptions. Animated expressions helped tell the story.
The audience was a mixed aged group, which may or may not have all experienced online dating, however early on, Chloe and Steve managed to weave into the story an explanation of Tinder which set the scene regardless of one’s specific experience.
The story unfolded with wit and amusement. I was engaged to the point that I was almost desperate for them to get together, which is testament to their story telling and engagement.
Overall this was a fun, witty and engaging show that was well written and well acted. A unique idea and one that is so representative of our time and the way dating has changed.