Perfection seeks out a successful relationship

Perfection
Old Red Lion

Jane Wild

PERFECTION is a rom com, but before any of you not enamoured of the genre turn the page, it’s anything but saccharine.
Sharp, witty writing with an underlying darkness fuels this fast-paced look at our quests to find perfection in our romantic partners.
Sarah Fortune plays a feisty Meg, who lives with the knowledge she will die from cystic fibrosis.
Before she dies she invites all of best friend Amanda’s (Sarah Cowan) past loves to the funeral, forcing Amanda to take a hard look at whether her search for the ideal partner has destroyed her happiness.
The scene cuts back and forth between times before Meg’s death and after it, when Amanda revisits each of her ex-boyfriends to re-examine their compatibility.
Mark Lindow’s funny script draws no polite titters, but much hard laughter from the audience throughout.
For instance, at the funeral there is a spat between Amanda’s jealous former lovers.
Ex-boyfriend James (Robert Walters) is a wide boy mockney who mangles his pronunciation.
When he flippantly remarks “nice buffet” at Meg’s funeral, Taylor (Matt Prendergast) remarks with perfect comic timing, “Buffy, is a vampire slayer”.
But what really gives the play its zest is how scenes teeter along a knife’s edge, often tipping from humour into sadness or rage and skilfully back again.
All the cast give commendable performances, particularly Gareth McCherly as the suave Sam, and Sarah Cowan (Amanda) as the late 20-something, outwardly assured, inwardly troubled heroine.
There’s some improper behaviour by James (Robert Walters) near the end which isn’t quite believable.
But the play is sophisticated enough to keep the final outcome a surprise, if a rather sudden one.
Examining issues such as compromise, Perfection manages to easily make serious points about the necessary elements of successful relationships without the faintest sentimentality.

Until July 22
020 7837 7816

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