Relationships aren’t always held together by love – often it is what is unsaid, the little guilty secrets, that keep us together.
Tom and Rosie are comfortable – two people that know each well, well enough to not expect more. Well enough to care, just enough. Well enough to stay, because where else would they go? They are a couple that aren’t even happy anymore, but maybe even then, that’s enough.
Isabella Perversi writes two very real and deliciously flawed characters, who bounce between relatable and heavily cliched. The dialogue has a natural flow to it but the content often means that the work is clunky and over written.
Perversi and Fabio Motta give life to Rosie and Tom with high energy and gusto but there is a nervousness to their delivery. The characters feel stilted and wooden while overly emphasizing the work’s more cliche elements.
Perversi and Motta do well with the work’s filmed format though the energy of a live audience could have helped to ground their performances.
Alanah Guiry’s direction keeps the work moving with a high pace and attentive detail. Each vignette feels fresh and whole, while adding to the story and building the world as each event unfolds.
What rhymes with orange? doesn’t exactly break the mold with its content but the work is earnest, sweet and enthusiastic with its execution.
What rhymes with orange?
Melbourne Fringe Digital On Demand
Season continues to 17 October 2021
Information and Bookings: www.melbournefringe.com.au
Image: Isabella Perversi and Fabio Motta – photo by Ross Dwyer (Mad Hatter Films)
Review: Gavin Roach