Charlie is a disillusioned young gay man who, in I Bought a Flip Phone at ZOO Playground, got fed up with everything that smartphones represent and, to simplify his communication and reduce his addiction, actually took the step so many of us have threatened, and bought a flip phone. Past that, this show isn’t what you think.
Over the next hour, Charlie (Panos Kandunias) entertainingly rants about his job, complains about his mother and his absent father, whinges about his best friend’s busy life, and even takes stabs at modern dating. So far, so droll, right? Charlie is quite nihilistic, always focused on his problems, except for some good memories in the past, which seem only brought up to contrast with his miserable present.
Why should you see this show? It sounds like yet another one-person rant, right? Throughout, Charlie is constantly texted and, towards the end, called by those in his life. He talks about the disconnection in modern life, blaming social media and group chats for the distance. He complains about his addiction to his phone and points out, in a reference to the Barbie movie, that we clearly weren’t paying attention, which must be due to the brain rot. But when he gets on a really good tear, ding, his unassuming little flip phone notifies him that someone wants his attention. Charlie responds wholeheartedly, but often pushes away the bid for connection.
And that’s much more what this show is about, bids for connection where we simply miss each other. Are you ever annoyed by the question: ‘So, what do you do?’ Do you have small talk at the office? Do you try to hide your real emotions from your closest friends? So does Charlie, and he is systemically called on it over the course of this production until finally, he begins accepting when those he loves ping him, regardless of what type of phone he has.
It does take this show a little while to launch, but the structure is excellent, drawing on solo performance and stand-up standards combined with actually solving a problem through actual acceptance of social offers. None of us in the audience admitted to being lonely, but I suspect a lot of us were thinking yes, and by the end of it, whipped out our phones, not to see what notifications awaited us, but to say Hi to someone we care for. Check out I Bought a Flip Phone at ZOO Playground.
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