Andrew HoughtonThreesome is a new comedy play presented online by Almost Professional as part of this year’s Brighton Fringe Festival. The company consists of performers Claudia Saavedra, Eric Silver and Philip Greenoak, with Silver also having written the piece and Saavedra producing.
The piece follows existing friends Alex and Eve who, when they aren’t at each other’s throats, are desperately trying to find a third flatmate to cut down their living costs. Chaos ensues when Evan, the wacky new applicant for the spare room, starts ruffling more than a few feathers during the meeting. Combining Alex’s cutting personality and affinity for shade, Eve’s self-absorbedness and libido, and Evan’s weird past and blunt opinions, creates an entertaining mix and makes for a lot of entertaining conversations.
Almost Professional gave themselves a big hurdle to overcome by presenting the piece as a Zoom call of sorts. Many companies have tried to be creative in the ways they develop online productions throughout the past year and Zoom is by far the most difficult medium to work with. Although the performers are individually funny and the jokes are clear, a lot of the comedy feels off-beat as the fatal disconnect of online chatting interferes with the crucial back-and-forth.
Threesome has some great moments and a clear wit, with contemporary references. However, some story beats, such as Eve sexualising herself to advance her career are under-developed and could afford extra time for both comedy and character development. Silver, as Alex, also asks us to suspend our disbelief in particularly ‘meta’ moments, however it is difficult when the characters themselves do not seem to follow a particular set of rules and the levels of self-awareness fluctuate.
So much of the piece’s potential is clear: the unlikeable-but-lovable character tropes, the witty asides to the audience, and the camp and melodramatic escalation of tension. However, the camera is not kind to this production which demands some traditional ‘suspension of disbelief’. Therefore some of the larger moments are off-putting, whilst the shifts to direct address, after talking to the other characters on screen, are just not distinct enough to achieve full impact.
Threesome is an entertaining piece that is a few creative choices away from success. The piece was originally intended for stage and it will fare well amidst the gradual re-opening of theatres this summer. A live audience will certainly give Threesome the space and support to start building on some strong foundations.
Threesome is playing online until 27 June 2021. For more information and tickets, see Brighton Fringe online.