I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

‘I love you, you’re perfect, now change’ has been brought again and again to the Fringe with different cast and slight changes. This year, Exeter University Footlights presents the production with 6 talented youngsters who know how to make the imperfect script shine.
The play consists of a succession of short sketches portraying “typical” relationship situations from having to pretend you are interested in your date’s stories to having to put up with a “chick flick” for the girl’s sake. But each of the stories includes a twist, which increases the comical effect and, to top it off, a song. In spite of the twists, the relationships are still portraited the most traditional way possible: no homosexual relationships, no different races or cultures, no large differences in ages, etc. Although Harri Bailey has made sure the show is entertaining and dynamic, she could have challenged the all-too-safe script.
The stories, albeit funny in general, display the one flaw of the play: the lack of continuity. There is no connection between one story and the next and not much with the title either. In spite of all this, the show still manages to gain the audience’s contentment thanks to the oustanding charm and voices all 6 actors display. Their ease, their excellent complicity, their abillity to laugh at themselves, while being sure of who they are, all this makes for a very entertaining hour. Matt Stockton, Amy Kinsella, Glynn Jones, Alice Coulson, Charlie O’Reardon and Abigail Evans, well done.

4/5

Agueda Grarko