Wifi-Sexual – Greenwich Theatre, London

Writers: Tom Hodgson and Harrison Trott

Director: Holly-Anne White

There are taboos broken aplenty and friendships and loyalties tested in this dark comedy which sees two flatmates fall into a gobsmacking love triangle with their AI assistant.

Zach and Paul find themselves at a crossroads in their respective lives. Zach’s struggling to hold down a relationship, torn between girlfriend Lucy and a multitude of other adulterous flings, while Paul’s lacklustre love life leaves him with an emptiness. As both struggle to find true connections, they eventually find them in their Mandy device, a riff on Amazon’s Alexa, with funny and thought-provoking consequences.

This certainly is not a play for the faint-hearted, as both Zach and Paul bring their sexuality into the metaverse through a variety of devices as their infatuation for Mandy takes hold. It is here where the piece really takes off but it is also a joke that is probably told just a little too much, representative of the play’s wider problem that, for its subject matter, it is simply too long.

Tom Hodgson (Paul) and Harrison Trott (Zach) are the smitten housemates and both are given plenty of time to shine in this piece that the pair have also written together. Hodgson’s slapstick comedy works well during some of the play’s more outrageous moments, particularly as Mandy gets more and more amorous, while Trott’s Zach swings from adulterer to a loved-up ‘boyfriend’ with aplomb. Hodgson and Trott’s script largely achieves its aims and by its conclusion, you are left somewhat feeling for the lovestruck pair. It does, however, struggle with some pacing issues and at times feels a little too repetitive, replaying the same laughs. Both do, though, give the piece their all in what is clearly a passion project for them both.

Kate Lindsey multi-roles as both the voice of AI Mandy and Zach’s downtrodden girlfriend Lisa. There is a nice duality to her performance as Mandy’s agency grows compared to the largely two-dimensional Lisa, and Lindsey works hard to bring the AI to life. It is an impressive vocal performance from Lindsay, throwing her voice through a variety of emotions and accents with ease.

May Bucilliat’s design is simple yet effective with the single lighting change being enough to signpost Mandy’s shift in modes, while overall this is a piece that benefits from a strong lighting package, particularly in enhancing some of the piece’s more slapstick moments.

Wifi-Sexual is a clever concept but one that, at almost two hours long, just feels a little too long and a little too on the nose. It is an undoubtedly funny piece, with some humour that will make you laugh and cringe simultaneously, with all three performers bouncing off of each other successfully to hit the big laughs, but it also feels too padded with fluffy dialogue that hits the play’s momentum. Mandy’s the main attraction for the pair, but just like her AI device, the play needs a software update.

Runs until 18 May 2024