Edinburgh Fringe 2011
Low Down
A show about love, loneliness and the human condition.A very polished and professional performance of a less than perfect piece of writing gives internet dating a somewhat cynical once-over. As a piece of theatre it is very well done.
Review
Rosalind Adler has written and performed a play about internet dating based on her own experience of an internet date she once had with a man who told her about how he behaved towards another woman. From his anecdote, she has created LOL as a commentary on, and insight into internet dating.
Adding two additional fictional women’s stories of online dating, LOL offers insights into the "real" world of online dating.It is a good piece of theatre. Delivered with much professional aplomb, the play is creatively staged in the limiting conditions of the Fringe. The set is cleverly used to enable different story strands to be told separately, then brought together to afford insight into the world of internet dating. Rosalind Adler is a very accomplished performer who moves between different roles with consummate ease and confidence which is as delightful as it is engaging.
But as a fellow internet dater (!) I think the piece is overly cynical. Yes there are lots of lonely people looking for love. But the characters in this piece don’t have any good experiences to relate, and you are left to wonder why if everyone on the online dating sites is so awful, why is it so popular? For me, the characters are uni-dimensional, the situations too contrived. Its easy to be cynical about peoples’ attempts to find personal happiness.
The four stars are for the performance not the play. It is a performance which deserves a wide audience.
