A well-observed, jocular exploration of millennial loneliness
It is often said that we live in an age of unprecedented connection – with mobile phones, social media, and the news at our fingertips – and yet we have also never felt more alone. Algorithms explores this idea through the experiences of dating app employee Brooke (Sadie Clarke), who is about to turn 30 and tackling the dating scene following the end of a long-term relationship. Her overbearing mother is forcing her to have a joint wedding anniversary/30th birthday party, and her company has meeting rooms named after animals who mate for life (the Beaver Room, anyone?). Through this lens, Algorithms captures some very specific experiences of love, bisexuality and loneliness in the digital age.
Approaching dating like a “poorly paid side-job”, Brooke uses her company’s app to cycle through potential partners, who we meet through Sadie Clarke’s extended monologue. This conveyor belt of love drives Algortihms’ narrative forward, interspersed with crises of confidence and her familial obligations. Sadie Clarke plays Brooke with a nervous anxiety and desperate need for acceptance that feels both sharply observed and believably raw, sucking the audience into the narrative and generating audible gasps at key plot moments.
The script skewers societal expectations of female beauty and rom-com romances with charm, and tackles its more challenging themes with sharp wit. A particularly memorable exchange confronts the “bisexuals are just greedy” stereotype with a hilarious and incisive analogy built around eating M&Ms. This and other moments suck the audience into Brooke’s quest for love, contributing to a dramatic climax which is genuinely moving; testament to both relatable writing and skillful acting.
Comparisons with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag are inevitable: an unashamed, no-holds-barred woman monologues about modern female experiences, throwing regular knowing looks to their audience. These coarser narrative elements always have a purpose, with descriptions feeling equal parts salacious and reperesentative. Algorithms distinguishes itself with a more socially awkward protagonist, and slightly more modern setting (although mentioning Google Plus already dates the script). Whilst it doesn’t do anything particularly unique in the space, the Fleabag style still feels fresh enough to be exciting.
Onstage, a sparse set is helped by excellent lighting and sound design, snapping into place at exactly the right moment to communicate character and scene transitions. Clarke’s shifting posture, mannerisms and accent all add to the immersion, making for an easy-to-follow narrative despite the large range of people she must embody. Although Clarke moves around the stage confidently, some more furniture and prop-work would lend some momentum to the show’s slower moments.
It would also have been good to see deeper analysis of the dating-app experience, which although the focus of the play’s title only really serves as background noise. There is more to say about the difficulty of finding a ‘perfect match’ online, and the way these decisions are made, but a script that otherwise provides strong social commentary spends little time on the app itself.
Overall, Algorithms is a funny, authentic-feeling monologue about loneliness in the age of always-on technology. Taking in themes of connection, painful break-ups, and societal expectations through a humorous lens is a winning formula, and is pulled off effectively here.
Algorithms plays at the Park Theatre until 11th May, with matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays. Tickets for purchase here.