Jo Foster and ensemble, WHY AM I SO SINGLE, Garrick Theatre, credit Matt CrockettThe writing team of Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow who first dazzled the Edinburgh Fringe, then the West End and the world with SIX (the tale of Henry VIII’s wives told through a feminist lens), found themselves searching for a follow-up to match or eclipse their previous global success. When it came to it, they eschewed a diva-esque theme and instead settled on getting to know each other more thoroughly and through the intimacy of that process, found the material they needed. In its simplest terms, the show is about two platonic friends sitting on a sofa, glugging Prosecco and initially concluding that the reason their love lives are a chaotic mess, is due simply to the fact that men are trash. However, as the layers are peeled, rather more is revealed.
The show, with its fantastically tongue-in-cheek set and costume designs by Moi Tran and Max Johns, neatly captures the musical theatre zeitgeist, bouncing from one earnest moment about dating in the age of apps and pronouns, to the next campy outrageous showstopper involving disco balls or a spoof of Marilyn Monroe’s pink satin dress number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Leads Jo Foster and Leesa Tulley (as musicals-loving Oliver and Nancy) rarely let the pace drop as they afford the rest of the company plenty of opportunities to get involved — notably Noah Thomas as mutual friend Artie who proves very much a cut-to-the-chase kinda guy.
The sharp-eyed among you will have noted that this reviewer has artfully dodged the obvious association which the names Oliver, Nancy and Artie collectively conjure. The deeply embedded puns and musical references come thick and fast, with nothing laboured or overplayed under Lucy Moss’s watchful eye in her dual role as co-director with Ellen Kane whose sharp choreography is redolent of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Even the occasional frivolous filler number (watch out for an explosive bee-themed interlude), was delivered with panache and comic enthusiasm by the company, and the frequent breaking of the fourth wall, served only to enhance the knowing inclusion of even the most resolutely chuckle-resistant hacks in the audience on press night.
Near the beginning of the show, an amusing slice of shade is served-up towards a long-running West End show, which at the very end is flipped and cleverly lands as a genuinely meant compliment. It is this very nature of respect and playfulness which runs throughout WHY AM I SO SINGLE? and which will guarantee its success among theatregoers who love the musicals and comedy genres.
Cast members in this production (some of whom are making their professional debuts), include:
Jemima Brown, Josh Butler, Natasha Leaver, Ran Marner, Jemel Matthias, Olivia O’Connor, Joshian Angelo Omaña, Natasha Wilde, Rhys Wilkinson, Jordan Cambridge-Taylor, Collette Guitart, Callum Bell, Owen McHugh, Caitlin Redpath, and Ebony Clarke.
