Inspired by her personal Instagram experiment, Mandy Picks a Husband is the hilariously dark and witty dating traumedy from seasoned New York theatre actress and stand-up comic, Amanda Broomell. Following acclaim at the 2019 Hollywood and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, this satirical exposé comes to London to reveal the highs and hurdles of falling in love.
Prompted by the success of reality TV’s dating juggernaut The Bachelorette, Amanda launched an Instagram experiment in 2018 (@mandypicksahusband) to document her experiences with online dating. Body image, abuse and addiction came to the forefront as she had to battle with past traumas to heal and trust in love and lifelong commitment.
Outside of the cookie-cutter ideals of love, Amanda’s autobiographical story is a humorous yet raw and revealing saga of self-help groups, psychics and discovery programmes. This romantic odyssey of a nearly 40-year-old singleton and her aged cat, channels the trials and tribulations of courting in the modern age, to ask: how can you create intimacy with someone if you can’t love yourself?
Broomell comments, This story tracks my complicated relationship with enough-ness, so I designed the performance with no light cues, no sound cues, no props, no set, no costumes—marking yet another step in my healing process; that I, alone, am enough.
Mandy Picks a Husband is at Canal Café Theatre 5th – 8th December 2019.
