“Fresh, funny, original – a pacey ride through a raunchy yet wholesome tale in a naughties’ Soho knickershop.”
Bridget Jones is on the money. Yet this glitzy mayhem was delightfully original – through a string of clichés not a single stale note. The show is a glimpse behind the scenes and into the window displays of this notorious knicker emporium. Written by and starring Mollie Blue, we primarily follow’ agent’, a plucky young saleswoman who’s clearly fed-up with double standards and male behaviour. She proclaims she will henceforth ‘live like a man’. Through a series of scenes within the store we are introduced to her colleague and flatmate ‘bimbo’, played by Poppy Taplin, and ‘the boy’ [working] next door, Ryan Dickson. Bimbo is the hilarious sidekick, brimming with laugh out loud physical comedy that leaves you wanting more. ‘The boy’, with whom they flirt in exchange for taking out their bins, provides a contrast of normality and sincerity in his burgeoning friendship with ‘agent’. Dickson also plays ‘the pervert’ who’s regular phone calls to the shop punctuate the story, in which he unpoetically but suggestively discusses the manikins’ clothing arrangements for his own pleasure.
Mollie Blue’s continually sharp-as-a-knife writing and stellar performance as ‘agent’ is at the center of this story. Her stamina and wordplay is delightfully impressive. Although we are clearly meant to be whisked through the glamorous chaos of this hidden sexy but unsavoury world, the pacing felt overly rushed at times. The disembodied characters passing through the shop remained frustratingly mysterious, although this is perhaps in the nature of retelling true lived experiences without wishing to overembellish a story that is not your own.
The chatty nature of ‘agent’s monologues were clearly relevant to her characterisation, however perhaps greater contrast or pauses, allowing lingering and confrontation with the audience could boost the story’s impact. At times it felt a little like hurtling down a hill in a car with no breaks, although slower-paced and more genuine scenes such as with ‘the boy’s’ heartfelt revelation and the final scene concluding ‘agent’s interaction with the ‘pervert’ were effective.
Taplin as Bimbo had brilliant comedic timing and physicality – very much the stereotypical sidekick but outrageously so with a unique weirdness. Her relationship with the manekin was clever and intriguing, but could have been developed further. Dickson switched well between the sweet demeanour of ‘the [nice] boy’ quietly in love and the unseemly masculinity of the pervert on the phone.
The set and costumes worked really well, and married with the movement, was exceptionally suggestive and effective storytelling – particularly the deftness of Blue un/redressing at the top of the show.
The movement, by Daniel Monday, was fantastically choreographed for great visual storytelling.
The set was effective and transportive as was the lighting and sound design, which fit well within the creative limitations of a black-box space. The soundtrack depicted well the nostalgia of the pre-tiktok, pre-recession world, although they were the only signposts of note to the time setting referenced in the play description. There was some extra movement between sequences that felt flappy and distracting, and sometimes the recognisable lyrics were a little too present amongst such a fast-paced, word-heavy text.
If the intention was to depict previously unseen impressions of 2007 ‘agents’ and how the pursuit of sex, power and money is a lonely experience, then it certainly did its job in a hilarious and fun way.
Full of talent, ‘Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me’ could be even stronger with a little more confidence in holding the audience’s questioning gaze, revelation and a pinch of polish. All in all, a fun, frivolous and thoughtful night out.