• Review For Us
  • List Your Show
  • Advertising
  • Musicals
  • Plays
  • Ballet & Dance
  • Previews
  • First Look
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • VAULT Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • VAULT Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
No Result
View All Result
Home Edinburgh Fringe 2022
Mates courtesy The Company

Mates courtesy The Company

Edinburgh Review: MATES The Improvised 90’s Sitcom at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

by Matthew Hayhow
August 11, 2022
Reading Time: 2 mins read

Four Star Review from Theatre WeeklySo no one told you improv could ever be this way? MATES: The Improvised 90s Sitcom pays tribute to those escapist American comedies of the 1990s like Friends and Seinfeld where a bunch of beautiful unemployed white people share an apartment you could only dream of having.

The show comprises two entirely improvised episodes of a show called ‘MATES’. MATES is about three British friends living in a New York rent-controlled apartment, and the wacky hijinks they get up to each week.

The story is informed by three words suggested by the audience which is allocated to each of the three performers. We are not told much more than that, so from there the show could go anywhere.

       

I say anywhere; what is clever about MATES is that the suggestions are worked into the typical beats of a 90s sitcom. There are the familiar stories about nightmare dates, stressful jobs, strange New York denizens, but cleverly incorporating the suggestions to give the stories the bizarre twist you only get in improv shows.

Friends would have been a way better show if Monica had to make a meatloaf out of potatoes to serve to Meatloaf the singer, or if Phoebe started a side-hustle pretending to be a Spice Girl to sell imported Spice Girls tapes.

You mightalso like

Our Field at Twilight Courtesy of the Company

Edinburgh Review: Our Field at Twilight at theSpace on the Mile

Pearly Gates A Kafkaesque Romcom in Heaven courtesy of the company

Edinburgh Review: Pearly Gates: A Kafkaesque Romcom in Heaven at theSpace @ Niddry St

I imagine the hardest part of a high-concept improv show such as this is to keep everything on time and to follow the structure of the format, but both episodes really felt like sitcoms, managing to resolve everything that needed to be resolved in half an hour, and finding a suitable cliff-hanger to lead into the next episode.

The three performers were all extremely quick and funny – there were a couple of moments where they scrambled a little to find a way forwards, but the chemistry between Hugh, Alex and Rachel is so good that nothing felt uncomfortable. MATES is a very funny show that will make you wish that this was a real sitcom.

Matthew Hayhow

Matthew Hayhow

Matthew Hayhow is a freelance writer who has written and edited for Vulture Hound, The Idle Man and Orchard Times. He writes about theatre, literature, film, music and video games. Matthew has an MA in Linguistics and English Language fro the University of Glasgow. He is based in Glasgow.

Related Articles

Our Field at Twilight Courtesy of the Company
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Review: Our Field at Twilight at theSpace on the Mile

Pearly Gates A Kafkaesque Romcom in Heaven courtesy of the company
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Review: Pearly Gates: A Kafkaesque Romcom in Heaven at theSpace @ Niddry St

Leaves on the line courtesy of the company
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Review: Leaves on the Line at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

Soho Boy Courtesy of Lambco Productions
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Review: Soho Boy at theSpace @ Symposium Hall

Things We Never Learned in Sex Ed Courtesy Portal Theatre
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Review: Things We (Never) Learned in Sex Ed at theSpace on North Bridge

Leaves on the Line at Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Edinburgh Preview: Leaves on the Line at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (Grand Theatre)

Twitter Facebook Youtube Instagram

At Theatre Weekly we give theatre a new audience. You'll find our theatre news, theatre reviews and theatre interviews are written from an audience point of view. Our great value London theatre tickets will get you the best deal for your theatre tickets.
Theatre Weekly, 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
  • Join Our Community
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising

Recent News

National Youth Theatre Rep Company in Gone Too Far photo by Isha Shah 1

Review: Gone Too Far! at Theatre Royal Stratford East

Jack and the Beanstalk Broadway Theatre Catford

Joy Productions Enter Five Year Pantomime Partnership With The Newly Refurbished Broadway Theatre, Catford, To Stage The Annual Pantomime

© 2022 Theatre Weekly

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tickets
  • Digital Theatre
  • News
    • West End
    • Off West End
    • Regional & Tours
    • Digital
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • Vault Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer

© 2022 Theatre Weekly