Naomi van den Broek reviews FWB: Friends with Boundaries, by Regan Taylor and Leona Revell, produced by Rollicking Entertainment, at Little Andromeda, Thursday 30 May 2024.
As a #smugmarried Gen-Xer I’m not totally sure I am the target audience for FWB: Friends With Boundaries so, armed with my most qualified single millennial friend, I head off to the theatre to investigate.
Right off the bat the two performers, Regan Taylor and Leona Revell, establish an effortless and genuine rapport with the audience. There’s always something wonderful about watching experienced, confident performers holding the stage: it’s easy, fun and relaxing, and you know you’re in safe hands. Taylor and Revell have wonderful chemistry with each other and they quickly and authentically bring us into the world of the show. From the outset we know the material is going to be explicit in places, and that some of the stories might hit differently for different audience members. We’re encouraged to manage our own experience and reassured that if, for any reason, we need to take a breather then we are welcomed to do so.
Structurally, the work is a series of monologues interspersed with scenes in duo and some fun physical representations of online dating spaces. There is a slender but effective plot arc that gives the show an overall shape, and a really pleasing and charming finish. The entire piece is really well paced, with the 70 or so minutes flying by. The minimal props and set make excellent use of Little Andromeda’s stage and entrance/exit points; I always love it when shows use the doors to the foyer at Little A. This creatively shows us an online world in 3D, and it’s all put to excellent use in a variety of hilarious and shocking ways. A banging soundtrack and judicious lighting highlight the action.
I feel like really good direction is mostly invisible when present, and incredibly obvious when not. Lizzie Tollemache’s direction of FWB: Friends With Boundaries is inconspicuous and first-class: actors are given room to breathe and make use of their excellent improvisational and connection skills, while all the time taking us on a journey as their experiences develop and unfold. There are beautiful moments of truth and vulnerability as Taylor and Revell give us insight into their personal struggles and stumbling blocks with intimacy. It really hit home. And, perhaps most importantly, the unceasing humour is managed with the skill of a flight controller at a major international airport. This show is chock full of laughs; the jokes land, one after the other, without fail. I am literally wiping my eyes as I leave the theatre, and the opening night audience are in stitches from go to whoa.
The work is primarily presented in a confessional, direct address style and we are told that these stories are mined from real life experiences from the performer’s dating lives. I really love memoir-based work, and I think part of the strength of FWB: Friends With Boundaries is that two great performers are sharing really intimate parts of their lives with us. Knowing these experiences have occurred IRL makes the cringe, the ick, the joy, the honesty and openness of these stories really impactful. The highlights are numerous, but ‘Yummy’s lube’ is one that will be hard to forget!
While at first glance this show is an extremely funny, and sometimes silly, depiction of sexcapades and dating in the modern world, what I am left with is an experience that really highlights how much we as humans are geared towards connection and intimacy. As Revell says: sex is easy, love is hard. Yes, I’ve laughed my ass off, but I’m left with much more than that; I come away feeling so joyful and full-hearted. And if the foyer after the show is any measure, much of the audience feel the same. Definitely not for the prudish or faint of heart, but if you’re looking for a comedic and theatrical match, I absolutely recommend swiping right on FWB: Friends With Boundaries.
FWB: Friends with Boundaries plays at Little Andromeda until Saturday 1 June.
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