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Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Tinder Tales

The King's Players

Genre: Contemporary, Devised, Drama, Fringe Theatre, Theatre

Venue: Greenside at Infirmary Street

Festival:


Low Down

Playing to almost a full crowd we get a series of well developed tales of what happens when you swipe to connect with people on Tinder. This has the positive and the negative, the funny and the pathos as well as some of the scary thrown in for good measure. The message appears to be, no matter what age you are, dating is scary, no matter how much of an app you try.

Review

This begins with some interviews before the format is established and then off we go. We have stories of tinder and ketamine, Spanish waiters and step mothers, the Cambridge College girl, the Brixton night cub and many others as this is an authentic run through their research. As it is based upon the experiences of many people it can be slightly disjointed though the whole performance hangs together pretty well.

It is well directed and each story has its own dynamic. There are seldom similarities between the tales giving rise to each having their own directed relationship with the audience. There are a few moments of discomfort not just with being ill in your jeans as the material has plenty to mine and make personal – we have all been somewhere in amongst those stories.

It avoids the horror stories of some people who have found themselves in relatively strange positions but it is better for that. Overall, this has a light hearted feel, and is not out there to make a serious pint. It IS there to show people that there are many paths to true love or occasional joy.

This is managed in a tightly organised piece of work that did stray longer than the publicised running time but never sagged and never felt as though it was padded.

As an old man now, I have to be honest, and say that whilst the app may not be something I would use nor is something with which I have any experience, the stories had a commonality of what used to happen. The sexual revolution has not been wasted upon the young and here you realise that no matter what generation, there are still the silly, the weird and the downright compatable out there for everyone. Here you can hear how they hooked up and have a bit of a laugh at the same time.

Published