Theatre review: Lobster, Underbelly, Bristo Square

Is there anyone out there who really loves online dating? From Gemma Harvey’s one-woman show, based upon real-life experiences she’s gathered, you can probably see why the answer might be “no”.

Harvey plays Polly who, with a sunny smile and a polka dot dress that says ‘I love children’, rattles through an eclectic mix of men, following a breakup with her ‘lobster’ – a man she believed she would be with for the rest of her life.

Dating apps have become a new way of mapping the city, it is revealed through Polly’s journey across London. Basically, go to Bumble for ‘boring girls’ and Islington for sex.

Elsewhere, the piece is more a series of amusing observations than massive revelations: a familiar story of a woman seeking The One in a sea of swiped images, who instead ends up crying on her bed. However, “just because I want to find love does not make me a shit feminist,”

Polly says, and there’s a subtle defiance that underpins her on-stage journey and (as we learn at the end) Harvey’s off-stage one, as both women try to find a partner in a world that can seem to favour cold, aggressive sex over romance and something more human.

SALLY STOTT

Until 26 August

For unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's festivals coverage, subscribe here