Review: The Challenge Of Returning To The Dating Scene In The Digital Age Plays Out With The Relatable OUTDATED.

Wednesday 10th March 2021, 8:15pm, Ensemble Theatre

Mark Kilmurry's (Writer and Director) new work, OUTDATED shares amusing insights into the perils of the dating scene, particularly when you're no longer in your 20's and baggage-free. Reuniting Yalin Ozucelick and Rachel Gordon, who featured together in Ensemble's 2018 season of THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, this new work plays on their comic chemistry in another seemingly mismatched relationship of very different personalities.

OUTDATED looks into the challenging world of dating through the experiences of 40-somethings Olivia (Rachel Gordon) and Matt (Yalin Ozucelik), a pair that have been matched on via fictional online dating service "YOU+ME". Nerdy Matt is a divorced film studies lecturer but is inherently a nice guy with a good heart. Olivia on the other hand has never married but she has come out of a long-term relationship, robbed of her dream life of marriage, home and kids, but she questions if her past and her neurotic tendencies have left her being too picky. Both have been back in the dating game for a while but the events of their first date and subsequent dates proves that it never gets easier with relatable moments and feelings expressed through physical expression, forth-wall breaking sharing of internal monologues, and a series of surtitles and reality television style narration voice overs. Keeping the focus on the characters, set and costume designer Simon Greer keeps the aesthetic of the work clean and seemingly simple. A two-tiered blue stage assists with the impression of different spaces while a simple bench serves as a bar, desk and other surprises, and a simple commercial table and plastic chairs serves the various date venues. Changes in costuming help reinforce the passage of time while ensuring that both Olivia and Matt are seen as 'average' middle class people that are not vain, eccentric, or untidy so that any qualms around compatibility are less likely to be related to looks. Kelsey Lee's lighting design aids in reinforcing the changes in settings with bold illumination for bar and office scenes, muted lighting for a jog in the park and focused spots when scenes are split across different locations allowing the audience to see both responses to a situation. David Grigg's sound design is kept to an unobtrusive undertone that subtly gives scenes ambience, from background music and chatter in cafes and bars to outdoor sounds. Rachel Gordon's expression of the high-strung Olivia ensures that while at face value Olivia seems like a straightforward uncomplicated character, the challenges that come from within her are gradually exposed, affecting how she interacts with the world around her, particularly Matt. The high standards and a degree of continually comparing dates with the life she lost make Olivia a relatable character, whether causing the viewer to see similarities to themselves or to people they know. Aside from the bold physicality of Karaoke Therapy, Olivia's physical expression is constrained in keeping with her high strung and neurotic nature and Gordon conveys this beautifully with vocal tone and nuanced subtle movement and facial expressions. Yalin Ozucelik's ability for physical comedy is fully utilized in his expression of Matt as he balances the uncoordinated absurdity with the need for sense of believability, holding back from turning the performance into a caricature. He has an endearingly expressive face and a gentle tone that gives Matt a sincerity and good intention that sits beneath all of the absurd attempts to make Olivia like him and the physical comedy of the jogging date is priceless. Writer and Director Mark Kilmurry has filled OUTDATED with a series of situations that are recognizable for anyone that has gone on a date with a stranger making for an entertaining work although greater use of the internal monologues would be beneficial to learning more of the thoughts rather than just seeing the outward events of the later dates, particularly when examining the other person's reaction to a situation. OUTDATED is an interesting work in the way a viewer's experiences with dating and their own philosophies on life can impact how they empathise with the characters. Both Olivia and Matt confess that they have been using the dating platform for a reasonable period of time, going on numerous bad dates as they seek to find a partner, not seemingly to be satisfied on living a life without a traditional partnership. As a character, Olivia 's inability to see that Matt is doing things to try to please her even though he's uncomfortable or that he is offering her 'outs' when he realizes that she is not in 'date mood' may make it harder to like her while Matt's underlying good intentions may garner more support.

OUTDATED is a fun night out for anyone that has gone through the process of dating, whether it be a relatively rare foray into the scene or serial dating, or for anyone that has listened to the war-stories from their single friends. For those still on the dating scene it offers the opportunity to examine the things we do, and shouldn't do, while also giving a degree of comfort that we're not alone in the experiences. For those out of the dating scene, OUTDATED can offer a sense of nostalgia and possibly relief that they are no longer faced with the challenges expressed on stage.

https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/outdated/

Photos: Prudence Upton