A cheerful and charming double-bill diving into modern dating and identity
Park Theatre’s fledgling programme Make Mine A Double is a nifty idea, offering a double-bill of one-act shows and showing off twice the talent. Its first combo of Eliana Ostro’s Anything With A Pulse and Deli Segal’s Pickle is an attractive, if slightly lopsided, look into modern romance: Hinge fails, splitting the bill and unsatisfactory sex abound.
Anything With A Pulse is a solid opener, both written and directed by Ostro. Our stock characters M (Rufus Love) and W (Annie Davison) have a nightclub meet-cute but, in spite of their clear chemistry, can’t seem to move beyond situationship due to poor communication and the constant lure of other flames, both new and old.
Love and Davison build a great connection through Ostro’s witty, exposing dialogue. Unfortunately, the characters spend most of the play not talking to each other but to us. The actors are not as strong here. They seem to be at a halfway-house between character and narrator, making the narration fuzzy and not extracting all possible comedy – of which there is plenty.
The amount of narration also removes a lot of intrigue from the characters. As they clumsily flirt with each other, we are given no chance to imagine what these characters might be thinking because- oh, they’ve just told us. It’s a bit like someone giving you a crossword and immediately starting to fill it in for you.
In spite of this, Anything with A Pulse provides some good laughs and a thought-provoking look into how young people date today, how the prospect of romance with anyone all of the time can often hold us back from taking the leap into meaningful relationships.
Pickle, written and performed by Deli Segal and directed by Kayla Feldman, is a stronger companion. This one-woman show focuses on Ari, a Jewish woman in her late 20s trying to find a suitable man amidst endless waves of unsuitable men, and trying to reconcile her romantic desire with her (very vocal) Jewish Conscience.
One thing that Segal nails is the balance between authentic expression and providing enough education for those of us, such as myself, not clued up on the quirks of Jewish culture, explaining what is considered ‘frum’ (six hours between meat and fish, Tottenham, foil on Passover) and ‘not frum’ (three hours between meat and fish, Arsenal, cocaine). It’s deft, intelligent writing that welcomes everyone in without sacrificing any storytelling.
Segal’s characterisation is another strong point, Ari is elastic, energetic and always engaging. She excellently skewers the wide spectrum of awful North London men and builds a warm, vibrant Finchley community of family and friends around her. The picture she paints of a woman pulled apart by competing worlds is clear and compelling, and the conclusion she reaches – that acceptance is not found through conformity but finding your own people – is a lovely note to end on.
Any double-bill will inevitably draw comparisons between the two shows on offer, and while in this case one does out-shine the other, these are two enjoyable shows showcasing some fine new talent – a good omen for the programme’s future.