Reviews

My Romantic History

Please Note: This review is from the production’s run at Traverse Theatre in August 2010 as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.

In the first misfire of the Traverse season, DC Jackson’s My Romantic History proves an over-extended 100-minute rom com in the wake of last year’s delightful Midsummer by David Greig.

It’s funny for a while, but as Tom re-spools his office love affair with Amy, spliced with memories of his childhood sweetheart Alison – both girls played monotonously by Alison O’DonnellLyndsey Turner’s production feels increasingly like a repetitive first draft.

Perhaps it will improve with cuts and re-writes, but the engaging Iain Robertson, very good at hangdog scruffiness and spotty sexuality – soon runs out of rope in his portrait of nerdy but laddish Tom. Rosalind Sydney chips in well as a third, catalytic party.

Chloe Lamford’s set is a vast cavern of cardboard boxes, but we never know what is sold or manufactured here. And I really don’t want to see any more onstage masturbation this festival; I feel like a husk already.