Tara Anegada
‘When Sally Met Gary Henry Harry’ is part of the Nottingham New Theatre’s Autumn Online Season and is available for free via their YouTube channel. I can safely say that I have not been this uplifted by a piece of theatre in a long time! Full of friendship, heartbreak and some very funny Tinder related content, you can’t help but swipe right on the romance of Sally and Harry’s story.
The classic girl-meets-boy romcom framed in the setting of meeting someone on Tinder during lockdown is a really clever take and it is executed very slickly. ‘When Sally Met Gary Henry Harry’ is a feel-good show that’s got something for everyone and is a really nice break.
Rachel Coussins (Sally) and Demi Idowu (Harry) give an amazing performance as the Tinder-match-turned-best-friend duo and I found myself forgetting that I was watching a film and getting quite invested in Rachel and Demi’s romance! Both actors give incredibly genuine performances and really bring out the comedy of the piece, (I imagine rehearsals were a lot of fun)! Katie Booth and Charlie Basley also give great performances as Chrissy and Flinty, Sally and Gary’s respective best friends, and I loved the supportive dynamic both friendships have.
Both actors give incredibly genuine performances and really bring out the comedy of the piece
‘When Sally Met Gary Henry Harry’ is incredibly well written, with jumps in time being executed without exposition and a very naturalistic tone. It is so great to see such a polished script coming from a new writer and the show is truly a credit to writer and director Cecilia Alexander. Co-producers, Nadia Elafi and Ylana Gibert, have clearly been an effective production team, joined by Pete Rouse, as assistant director, and Lauren Birks and Conor Waldock as shadow director and producer.
At this point we’re very used to seeing video calls as a stylistic choice for lockdown theatre and ‘When Sally Met Gary Henry Harry’ executes this format incredibly well. With graphics by Zoe Smith, sound design by Izzy de Bono and video editing by Cae Capurro, it is clear a lot of work has gone into the film and the end product reflects that.
I found myself forgetting that I was watching a film and getting quite invested in Rachel and Demi’s romance
There is also enough variation within the video-call format that the show never feels repetitive, despite being produced remotely, and the stylistic format feels very deliberate. I particularly enjoyed the fake Tinder profiles featuring members of the production team in various disguises, with some horrendous bios that we can only hope are made up!
Catch ‘When Sally Met Gary Henry Harry’ on the Nottingham New Theatre’s YouTube channel now for some side-splitting digital theatre!
Tara Anegada
Featured image courtesy of Nottingham New Theatre. No changes made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @whensallymetgaryhenryharry via instagram.com. No changes made to these images.
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