Bob's Date

It is the internal workings of the male mind which Bob’s Date takes as its subject. Anxious about a rendezvous with a woman—his first for over two years—Bob is ravaged by doubts and fears. The audience is given a view of his brain, where the personified characteristics of Memory, Nerves, Confidence, Emotion, Logic, Bull and Libido all compete for cerebral supremacy, and try to work together to get the girl.

Although an overview of this kind sounds somewhat trite, this production, from the Newcastle University Theatre Society, has a great deal of charm. The script is interesting, and though each of the ‘characters’ behave according to expected templates (Nerves, for instance, is really worried and is always stuttering and has clammy palms etc.), it never lapses into pedestrian observations about the human heart. The interplay between the characters involves the working out of complex rivalries (Libido and Nerves, for example, don’t get on because when Nerves is present Libido ’doesn’t work right’) in the hope that Bob might find a touch of happiness.

The warming conclusion sees the saucy yet vindictive Memory banished from Bob’s brain. With her gone, his mind can focus on the girl at hand. The standout scene involves Nerves and Emotion as they attempt to cooperate and undo years of loneliness. A principle triumph of the show is its ability to evade cringe-inducing absurdity. It is a worthwhile performance, however, and the writing of John Shanahan is to be praised.