We all fantasise about retreating to the woods where there’s no internet. In Hope This Helps! from Shark Bait Theatre, at theSpace @ Venue 45, five retreat attendees and one ‘guru’ find out just how hard it is to get rid of your phone.
The play opens on a yoga class led by retreat manager, leader and guru David (Lex Joyce), barely trying to maintain the attention of four of their five guests: Mabel (Elizabeth Robbins), Caitlin (Robyn Reilly), and lesbian couple Liv (Minnie Cross) and Willow (Jess Ferrier). Missing is Caitlin’s brother, Declan (Rory Drinnan Murray), whom Mabel suggests she’d be interested in meeting. Caitlin and Declan have recently lost their 55-year-old father and have some inheritance to look forward to; we also learn that Declan speaks a little like an incel, likely because he’s been isolated for a few years, and Caitlin is very concerned for him. This is the first whiff of internet addiction, which actually plagues all the guests: Mabel chronically uses dating apps, Willow had an AI boyfriend, Liv is addicted to porn, and Caitlin herself is attached to a particular green bird app that gets slightly psychotic about language lessons. The only person at the retreat able to release their tech addiction is David, but this turns out for the worst as he fails to receive an evacuation notice when a severe storm ravages the Scottish Highland retreat.
While Hope This Helps!, written by Jess Ferrier and Lex Joyce, is ultimately a classic modern comedy, it does raise some unintended existential questions. The show is reminiscent of a sitcom or a drawing room comedy: secrets kept, slapstick, everything’s fine at the end. But Hope This Helps! has darker notes about the risks of climate change, the dangers of living without the internet (why are so many alerts digital only now???), and overlooking the poorest one-quarter of the world without internet access. Modern comedies are made for middle class and above audiences, and I admit, from this reviewer’s perspective, their problems seemed quite funny and relatable. I suppose the dark undertones are the backdrop for this comedic format now.
Lian Rees’ direction moves the actors in an in-the-round configuration, with the seats extending almost all the way around the space. There are few opportunities to see in-the-round shows staged well, so I recommend picking an odd seat in this house rather than aiming for a proscenium-style vantage point. Hope This Helps! is a great comedy for an afternoon to kick off a Fringe marathon, so go see it at theSpace @ Venue 45.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
