The Situation: Or How To Grow Up…..

Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Tinder, texting and bus schedules. These are just a few of the reasons why Sophie’s phone rarely leaves her hand. Everything she has to tell us happened because of that phone or, more accurately, the apps accessed via that phone. According to Sophie, her situation is all because of social media. Told from the perspective of a twenty something "The Situation” by Amanda Jane Porter is a journey of self discovery via the online dating world. Sophie seems to have everything under control, at least online. She has lots of Facebook friends, followers on Twitter, but when she has to meet potential dates in person it all falls apart.

Porter leads us through a litany of first dates. They are often awkward, never perfect and often lead to situations which seem to culminate in too much drinking, embarrassing messages and proclamations for all those on social media to read. The play is well paced and Porter portrays Sophie as a smart but somewhat lost young woman. Her writing is clever and elected many chuckles and nodding heads throughout the audience. Porter uses various articles of clothing to signify the different scenes. I think the outfits could have visually tied in more with her different dates, corporate for the corporate type, slinky for the evening date etc. Porter's staging was limited due to the venue but I think there is room to grow in this production and for audio and visual effects tied to modern social technology. Overall “The Situation” showcases Porter’s strength as an actress and a storyteller.