Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Pleasance Courtyard, Baby Grand
Playing August 10-12, 14-26
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Six months after becoming the first ever gay winners of the UK’s biggest reality competition show, Ben and Cyrus are navigating life as a new couple in the spotlight in Will Johnston and Katie Sayer’s Love’s a Beach.
Keen to make the most of their new-found fame, we see the pair navigating a barrage of brand deals and trying to craft the perfect follower-driving social media strategy, including tactics such as filming ads for adult incontinence products and recording a Cillit Bang charity single with Rita Ora.
While Cyrus (James Akka) is the ultimate wannabe influencer, willing to do anything as debasing as an appearance at an A-Level results party to help him achieve his dream of hitting 10m Instagram followers, Ben (Iain Ferrier) is quite different. Preferring to use his fame to make a difference in the world, he focuses his efforts on wildlife initiatives — much to Cyrus’s bemusement.
This tension grows when the couple face their biggest relationship test yet: Cyrus is offered a brand trip to Dubai. Ben refuses to join him, appalled that his boyfriend would be willing to endorse a place where homosexuality is illegal, and the pair are split up for the month as Cyrus goes off to open new shopping malls and ride quad bikes across sand dunes.
There’s brilliant comic chemistry between the pair, and the relationship genuinely feels believable, even when they’re doing utterly absurd things in the name of social media stardom.
Social media plays a major role in the play, with transitions between scenes featuring voiceovers of news reports and online commentators responding to the couple’s ups and downs. These moments bring plenty of laughs and show that the writers have really done their research to nail the language and tone used in these conversations — even the infamous ‘PopCrave’ Twitter account gets a mention.
The script is very witty, clever and nicely paced, not wasting a moment of its tight 1-hour runtime. Jokes come thick and fast, poking fun at the glossy sheen of reality tv and the often humiliating things people are willing to do to grasp onto the spotlight. But it’s also surprisingly tender in parts.
As the boyfriend who’s been left behind as his partner gallavants across the Middle East, Ferrier brings a lovely softness to Ben amidst his excellent comic timing.
While we see Ben’s vulnerability and emotions quite clearly through the show, Cyrus’s character is a bit more of a caricature of a narcissistic influencer until the very final moments. While this offers a solid emotional climax, it would have been nice to have understood a bit more about who he really was and his intentions earlier on.
That being said, Akka is fantastic as Cyrus, nailing his petulant facial expressions and making his self-obsessed ambition feel genuine.
Love’s a Beach is a sharp and very funny show that pokes fun at influencer culture while still allowing us to empathise with the characters and understand their motivations. Whether you’re a reality TV devotee or you avoid it like the plague, this show is well worth a watch.
Kommentare