Imagine a millennial, bisexual Bridget Jones and you have the premise of Algorithms. While often funny and sometimes touching, the show doesn't go much beyond that basic hypothesis. Brooke is a sympathetic young woman who is turning thirty and who is taking stock of her life. From her lover, her mother and from the romcom movies she was brought up on, Brooke has absorbed expectations for what defines success, but as she approaches a milestone birthday, she is feeling woefully inadequate. Time to make a determined effort to get her life on track. While up to now she has only worked to design an online dating app, we get to enjoy her own first foray into that internet pond of possibility. There are a lot of good laughs here, and from many audience members there were probably chuckles of self-recognition. This a show that is very much aimed at a young, tech-savvy crowd who can identify with Brooke's ambitions and her dilemma. Sadie Clark who has written and performs the one woman show has created a character which she inhabits so completely that it is easy to believe the story may have a strong autobiographical element. However, she is also adept at creating the personae of her boss, her mother and her girlfriend. While we enjoyed the show, we were struck more by its sincerity than by its originality. As with the romcoms that Brooke loves, there is a comfort and satisfaction in going down a well worn emotional and theatrical path...still it might have been nice to have had something more.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Ali Wright.
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