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Fort Fringe – Bedroom
Remaining Performances:
Thursday, July 18, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 21, 10:30 p.m.
Friday, July 16, 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 28, 5:30 p.m.
They say: “Charming but insidious computer program Al Gorithm lures skeptical Lucy Lee into a world where the sacred teachings of math promise a perfect romantic match. Will Lucy find true love – or lose herself in the quest for mathematic perfection?”
Lauren’s Take:
Lucy, a lost-in-love, 30-year-old singleton turns to the dating site okstupid because she is bored and wants someone to share a cozy night in with. Why else do people sign up for a dating site? They want their 100% perfect soul mate. Erin Bylander’s new play OK Stupid’s Secret Math Lab, suggests that in love a 100% match does not exist, but a 97 percent match may be possible.
Lucy (Colleen Sproull) has a wonderful comic presence. Trawling the web in her PJs, she’s content to stalk her friends until she sees an ad for okstupid, a dating site. Soon enough the slick Al Gorithm (Chris Andersen), the magic math brain behind the dating site, enters the picture. Al is the leader of an ensemble of math nerds who all revere math as a god. These nerds are notorious for playing games with human profiles and coming up with ridiculous tactics for “crafting” love. The math nerds draw different algorithms and personal profiles of okstupid users in real time in three giant plexi glass structures—-giving the show a hip, of-the-moment feel. The set (designed by Chris Anderson) remained the same in shifts between Lucy’s bedroom and the math lab, but the way each character interacted with the set was unique, and definitely worked.
We get a some insight into tragic men who can only function socially on the internet, but where are the horror stories on online dating? The worst we hear is a guy who types the lyrics to “Inspector Gadget” (a funny Donta Hensley) and a dull man who’d been cheated on (Ben Church).
If Al can only help Lucy find a 97% match, in Matt (Tice Rust)—-and his chemistry with Sproull doesn’t make me want to sign up for okstupid, really—-how can a girl like me ever hope for 100% match?
Maybe he’s out there in real life, instead of on the internet.
See it if: you’re comfy and cozy in your love life.
Skip it if: you’re looking for the love of your life.