From Porralicious to looking for love

Published May 29, 2012

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So You Think You Can Love

Director: John Trengove

Writer and Performer: Sonia Esgueira

Venue: Pieter Toerien Studio Theatre, Montecasino

Until: July 1

Rating: ***

Sonia Esgueira already has a following because of her long-running and popular Porralicious, where she delves hilariously into her Portuguese roots.

This time around she’s in a brand new comedy about dating and finding love.

With a title like So You Think You Can Love, you’ll be forgiven for thinking about reality shows like So You Think You Can Dance and for surmising that this might be some sort of reality speed dating theatrical show.

This is not about that, but Esgueira presents a number of characters who would be included in that kind of a show, if ever there was one. And speed dating does feature a bit in the narrative.

This explores the bane of being single and dating in your 30s and it’s done through the lens of a character called Leeby.

She is desperate to find the right man and goes through a series of attempts to get hooked, such as consulting with psychics and sangomas, self-help books, going to ashrams in India and stalking a man.

This is the type of girl who should read a book like He’s Just Not That Into You but would probably miss the hints.

The reality of a show like this is that there are actually women like Leeby who are desperate, who think there’s something wrong with them and don’t realise the treasure is not in finding a man, but loving themselves.

That’s the only serious thing to consider when watching the show.

Besides that, all else is hilarious.

Esgueira works with the kind of slapstick comedy that could be used in a skit on Saturday Night Live, for example. It’s crass and over the top and you’ll either love it or hate it because of that.

But the audience seemed to enjoy themselves.

This makes fun of the funny and it’s a light-hearted night out at the theatre.

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