Brighton Fringe 2008
I Kissed a Frog and it Gave Me Herpes
Chesterlass and Otherplace Productions
Venue: Upstairs at the Three and Ten, 10th,11th,18th and 25th May
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
A hilarious dissection of modern romance as one woman searches for that allusive frog-prince.
Review
When this play began I was worried that I was going to be faced with the kind of slightly cringe worthy performance poetry I hoped I’d left behind on the university campus. Thankfully, these fears were quickly allayed as the rhyming eased and the audience were introduced to two thoroughly charming characters.
The acting from both performers was witty and assured with Anna Victoria providing the emotional core and Ronan Summers serving as a malleable foil moving seamlessly between comic characters. An onstage guitarist contributed to the fluency of the piece with clever use of music that subtly complimented the onstage action.
All the anecdotes and references were delightfully well observed (especially the kebab incident), relatable and totally believable. A couple of jokes in the shows strayed into Bridget Jones territory, however thankfully due to the sheer density of laughs this was forgivable. The already brief running time flew by and one of my few criticisms was that the show was not long enough.
The Three and Ten have definitely found a winner in this show. It is just the kind of instantly satisfying theatrical confectionery that is guaranteed to give you a sugar high for hours afterwards.
