Review: Dirty Great Love Story, Pleasance Dome (Venue 23)

At A time where many people are dismissing the kind of entertaining and good-natured shows that a large proportion of Fringe audiences love as “frivolous”, Richard Marsh and Katie Bonna’s two-person romantic comedy shows that a simple relationship drama paired with sophisticated storytelling can be clever and fun – and that sometimes that’s all you need. ****

Like a small-scale Four Weddings and a Funeral for thirtysomethings who enjoy nights out, DVDs in, friends, croissants, Bonne Maman jam and don’t want to grow up but kind of do, it follows Richard and Katie’s bumpy journey to get together after a drunken one-night stand, after which they are continually reunited by the unlikely marriage of two of their friends, CC and Westy.

Both Marsh and Bonna are masters of observational character comedy, and are talented contemporary poets, weaving together seemingly infinite strings of words in ways that capture the minutiae of everyday life in a similar way to Molly Naylor and the Middle Ones: My Robot Heart (also at the Pleasance), which could easily be a companion piece. CC and Westy are two glorious creations: one a well-to-do social piranha who can’t stop saying “love it” and the other a lewd tell-it-like-it-is Northern lad with a sense of humour reliant on bodily functions.

The story’s structure follows a familiar formula as Katie and Richard meet up, fall out, make up, get together with other people – in Katie’s instance, a very funny posh boy called Matt – realise they’ve made a mistake, only to discover the other is now taken, whereupon the whole process pretty much starts again.

There’s a nice original twist though – one that feels in keeping with a modern romance: Katie is always drunk whenever she gets together with Richard. As a result, she doesn’t really know if she loves him or is just high on booze. Only when finally sober can she make a decision once and for all.

A concluding scene in which Richard literally turns all of Katie’s flaws into poetry demonstrates the kind of effortless feats of wordplay that fill the piece and celebrate the “proper practical” love that makes long-term relationships work in a way that is refreshingly down-to-earth.

Until 27 August. Today 1:20pm.