Do you date? Do you use dating websites? A look into online dating on the modern world of love and romance. Neil Curran has set the show in a French café so that it doesn’t sound so seedy, searching the audience for someone who is not an improviser to make it feel more authentic. Well done Lucy for volunteering, you are about to be grilled about your dating life.
Lucy who is half Manc and half Liverpudlian, has been with James for twelve years, and they met on a dating website, although James prefers to say that they met through friends. The thing that stood out for Lucy on his profile was that he found it funny when old people fall over – ok Lucy, we won’t judge you! Asked about what her opinion on the secret to longevity in a relationship, her answer is trust, and making each other laugh. Curran spent time interviewing Lucy as though she was filling in her dating app profile, and then announced that on the stroke of midnight, Lucy would be visited by three dating matches.
Lucy’s first two matches are Carl, who has a phobia of spiders, and an ex-manager of Everton Football Club who will not pay for the meal and admits that Lucy’s mother sent him. With no success with the first two, the audience, and Lucy are wondering where Curran can go with this next – to James, of course!
Looking back to a show many years ago with Cilla Black and our Graham who gave the quick reminders of the lovely ladies and gents who were competing for a date, this is a reminder, that no matter which era we look at, humans have been dating since the beginning of procreation. Even though our dating methods may have changed, our desire for connection has not, and Curran is using this fact to cleverly create his dating show. He is fast on the uptake, and using an audience member helps to create dialogue, and gives him material to work with, which could easily be upscaled to include members of the audience to stand in as some of the male suitors, if he wished to have more audience inclusion.
Overall, I like the concept, and Curran has a good rapport with the audience making it an entertaining show.
Reviewer: Caroline Worswick
Reviewed: 26th April 2025
North West End UK Rating: