“My one and a half hours in the theatre had much in common with a successful first date: after the awkward introductions and occasional flat one-liners, came an intimate yet compelling acquaintanceship, followed swiftly by numerous outbursts of hysteria, and all ending with me wanting more.” Robert Holtom ★★★★★

“the cast are a talented, well-balanced comedy group who feed off each other’s energy superbly” Fabienne Cheung ★★★★★

The Cheeky Guide to Love ★★★★★

Review by Robert Holtom

My one and a half hours in the theatre had much in common with a successful first date: after the awkward introductions and occasional flat one-liners, came an intimate yet compelling acquaintanceship, followed swiftly by numerous outbursts of hysteria, and all ending with me wanting more. In other words “The Cheeky Guide to Love” does exactly what it says on the tin; it offers a funny, occasionally hilarious, introduction to that wonderful but baffling of human emotions.

The production proved to be a somewhat informal affair in a friendly sort of way. The comedians switched seamlessly between off-the-cuff chats with the audience and well timed sketches. Highlights included two very swift summaries of the classic love films “Titanic” and “Brief Encounter”, a marriage counselling session for Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride, and a candid translation of lonely heart ads. Amongst the four comedians, Joanna Neary proved particularly funny, combining brilliant and bizarre facial expressions with some equally odd noises. Her mail order bride, who was keen to show off her skills with a ping pong ball, was a definite highlight.

Perhaps, the main disappointment of the night was the considerable lack of an audience. Whilst we did our best to laugh in all the right places it did seem that the OFS theatre was a slightly larger venue than necessary. Of course, if the auditorium had been full then it would have been a completely different experience, but last night’s performance would have perhaps suited a more intimate venue such as the BT.

Nevertheless, if you want an antidote to the schmaltzy and overblown romantic gestures of Valentine’s Day then “The Cheeky Guide to Love” will not disappoint. Of course, if you have dabbled in ‘alternative’ methods to ensure romance, such as the odd blind date or occasional visit to match.com, then it might be best to keep your mouth shut, no sympathy from this comic troupe!

The Cheeky Guide to Love ★★★★★

Review by Fabienne Cheung

“The Cheeky Guide to Love” proclaimed itself to be “an hilarious whistle-stop tour of that most universal of human phenomena”: a comic exploration of that which, apparently, we all strive for in our lives – love. To me, this sounded like something along the lines of a Bridget Jones-style, fudgily heartwarming yet slapstick romp, all bum pinching and breast poking, all hammed up, altogether smutty for the sake of smut. The promise that the play would have me squirming from embarrassment in my seat only intensified my increasing feeling of trepidation: the idea that a depiction of what the writers themselves see as the most important feature of human life was, from the outset, bewildering and somewhat incongruous. But in reality, the piece was successful in combining the utterly awful with the cleverly original. There’s no doubt that the cast are a talented, well-balanced comedy group who feed off each other’s energy superbly: Joanna Neary deserves the most congratulations for her timing, characterization, and liveliness. A heavy emphasis lay on, in the cast’s own words, ‘the mushy stuff’, the awkwardness, the stiltedness, and the juvenile aspects of early infatuation – what ensued was a lot of strained tension (which although well performed seemed largely clichéd and contrived) mixed with the blatant sexual crassness and explicitness that I had expected (and feared) from the start. The most bizarre comic convention in the piece was the continual interjection of the cast, who presented the sketches and gave commentary on the action. Whilst this started as a neat way in which to link all the skits and give some sort of direction to the repetitive and sometimes pedestrian comedy, by the end of the piece I was struck again by the fear that pained me so much before the play’s opening: the overriding sense that I was being preached to about what human experiences of love should or must be like. In this aspect the cast did indeed have me squirming in my seat, as they had promised: at the start of the show they had asked for a show of hands for all those in the audience who are in love. The fact that they then proceeded to reduce the experience of love down to its most blundering level was, in fact, quite insulting to all those who had raised their hands: yet, strangely, the fumbling chaos, the stage clutter, the random mush of stereotypical lovers befits the emotion of love rather excellently. It is in truth the most beguiling of emotions, and I did indeed leave the theatre utterly beguiled at what I’d seen – yet somehow, I don’t think that that is the reaction the cast set out to achieve: just a lovely coincidence.