THE DATELESS WONDER. To 17 March.

Tour

THE DATELESS WONDER
by Anjali Mya Chadha

Anjali Mya Chadha in Association With Watermans Arts Centre Tour to 17 March 2007
Runs: 1hr 20min one interval
Review: Alan Geary at the Bonnington Theatre Nottingham 17 March 2007

Laughs are few and far between.
Imagine Four Weddings and a Funeral minus the funeral and three of the weddings, stir in more than a pinch of Bridget Jones, then strain out almost all of the humour. Give or take a few additions, this one-woman show from Anjali Mya Chadha is what you’re left with.

She’s supposed to be a single twenty-something Punjabi woman at her first Christian wedding - her friend’s - so there’s scope for a few funny moments, particularly since a hunk she’s always fancied is also present. But, sadly, laughs are few and far between.

One problem is that it’s based on the premise that we’re all under social pressure to get married; these days I don’t think we are. Another is that, in an uneasy hybrid of stand-up and drama, Chadha never seems to come down on one side or the other. And, particularly before the break, she reels off her script as if the audience isn’t there: she makes little attempt to play with it and vary her delivery according to the response.

Chadha isn’t a sufficiently accomplished mimic to cope with the various characters she tries, and, anyway, they’re mostly clichéd strays from Goodness Gracious Me.

This territory has already been thoroughly gone over by better explorers.

Anji Mya Chadha

Director: Lucy Taylor
Designer: Cordelia Chisholm
Lighting: Rachel Francis

2007-03-19 01:03:21