I LOVE YOU BECAUSE to Run 16-20 September at Bridewell Theatre

Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman's contemporary musical, I Love You Because, gets hearts racing in the City of London's premier fringe venue, the Bridewell Theatre, from 16-20 September in an upbeat and exciting new production inspired by the American sitcoms Friends, Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good fortune, has the capacity to transform and win over a newly single man who has just walked in on his cheating skank of a girlfriend doing the nasty with some guy she met at Hot Yoga.

And while we're at it, who says that his doped up waster of a brother can't bag her totally superior hot lady friend who is way out of his freakin' league? You couldn't write this shiz. But they ruddy well did.

I Love You Because is a modern twist on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Set in New York City, it's the story of a group of twenty-somethings who spend their entire waking existence talking about their own mundane lives.

A young, uptight greeting card writer's life is changed when he meets a flighty photographer. Along with their eccentric friends and siblings, they learn to love each other not in spite of their faults, but because of them.

'I think I've seen this one,' I hear you cry. Yes, yes you have. But this time it's got, like, songs in it and stuff which you've probably never heard before but they're quite catchy... although don't try to sing along - this ain't one of those kind of shows!

Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman reveal more about the show's origins: "We began work on updating the piece and changing the genders, and inserting our own experiences until I Love You Because took on a life and a story of its own.

"However, what remains of Pride and Prejudice is what attracted us to the story in the first place; the notion that in order to find love you must move past your preconceived notions of what love is going to be for you and embrace all of its surprises, both good and bad. Because it's easy to say, 'I love you anyway', but hard and all the more rewarding to say, 'I love you because'."

Director Robert J. Stanex adds, "I have always loved the brilliance of America's best sitcoms. What's so wonderful about this 6-hander is that it still has the one-liners, eccentric characters and domestic quirkiness of a TV comedy but with songs - great songs. Plus, it's the perfect date musical."

I Love You Because is staged by leading amateur theatre company Sedos, which is the resident theatre company at the Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street.

To post a comment, you must register and login.