Cell, Block Tango

Audiences will find at least one moment in The Butterfly’s Club new show Cell, Block Tango: Showtunes on Modern Dating, where they can honestly say ‘yes, that happened to me.’ This vaudeville tour through the perils and peaks, though mostly perils, of modern dating in all its online glory is a funny, relatable and sporadically morose rumination on love in the age of Tinder.

Performed by the small cast of Lelda Kapsis, Andrew Iles and Louise Baxter, Cell, Block Tango features show tunes from a host of classic productions, including Cabaret, Gypsy and Chicago, all re-purposed and re-contextualised for the modern age. The show is structured around a series of monologues and performances tackling issues of ghosting, friend zones, unsolicited images and first date nightmares with each of the cast getting their moment to shine.

Iles showcases an impressive range of comedic talents, inhabiting an array of different characters to great effect while Kapsis’ strong voice is lent well to moving renditions of cabaret classics such as the iconic Maybe This Time. Unfortunately, in this company, Baxter struggles to define herself, her voice not quite as strong as the others and looking the least comfortable of the three on stage.

More of a series of thematic vignettes, it does feel as if there could be a stronger through line, something to build towards. As it stands, the show just ends, concluding with a reading of first date horror stories taken from the audience and followed by a rendition of the eponymous ‘Cell, Block Tango’. While the performance of the final song is enjoyable, the first date stories ultimately fall flat, failing to mesh together in any meaningful way like the previous segments did. A disappointing note to end on as the previous forty minutes were so enjoyable. A spot on indictment of modern dating and the strange creatures you encounter on the way.

The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, off Little Collins Street
Till Sunday, 21 January 2018
thebutterflyclub.com/show/cell-block-tango-showtunes-on-modern-dating