Love Hunt @ Just the Tonic at The Caves
Charlie Mulliner's Love Hunt showcases her undeniable acting talent, but the jokes don't quite reach the heights of her character work
Love Hunt opens as our protagonist, Amber, runs through the audience, screaming for her boyfriend. It’s a bold, captivating open. What transpires next is either the odyssey of a woman going through a breakup, or a breakdown. Charlie Mulliner‘s Amber pines for her beloved Rob throughout this one-woman show, while sowing the seeds that her divine boyfriend might not be everything she sees through her ever-dimming rose tinted glasses.
Love Hunt flickers from the comedy of this deluded woman, and the tragic reality of her inability to let go of what is inevitably damned. It’s a tale as old as time, but as the details drip out, you cannot help but invest in the performance.
Mulliner holds the stage with ease, her eyes glistening with emotion, from fury to fragility. She is a fantastic actress, expertly expressing this vulnerable, albeit intentionally irritating, character. Grappling between emotional intensity and lines about star signs and washing machines that play obviously into tropes and stereotypes, the comedy in this tragic-comedy isn’t always punching at the same level.
When the show moves away from its central story, we see Love Hunt at its weakest. Additional characters can feel shoe-horned in at the expense of plot, but do serve to highlight Mulliner’s undeniable flair. As an actress, she is fantastic, but as characters in the overarching narrative, be it a water-pistol wielding nun, Welsh celestial star or violent Bootcamp instructor, they ultimately feel redundant to the plot. A parody of Blind Date, where a Cilla Black-bewigged audience member quizzes three participants about their dating credentials, is the biggest hit in terms of crowd work with Mulliner navigating the crowd well, and encouraging some of the best lines of the show from the audience.
Mulliner’s acting is the star of Love Hunt. Her ability to connect and resonate with her audience shines in the more tender monologues and her quivering voice is wonderfully melodramatic; however, as a piece of comedy, her jokes don’t quite reach the height of her character work.
Love Hunt, Just the Tonic at The Caves (Wee One), until 24 Aug, 12.10pm, £14