Shoppers Without Borders

Shoppers Without Borders is an hour-long, one woman monologue which questions whether "total disclosure" is truly necessary in a relationship. This question, along with the title and the production blurb, promise an incisive comedy that deals with the friction created by the economics of co-habitation. Would that it were so.

Instead what is offered is a poorly acted skit that revolves around an imbroglio of deceptions, the lynch pin of which is that Erin Donovan, the main character, is getting married. But alas, she has been married before and doesn’t want her mother to find out about husband number one. The flaw is immediately clear: how would the mother not have known, given that Erin’s first marriage sanctioned her residence in the UK? Either Erin’s mother is inconceivably ignorant about immigration law or she is far more morally lax about illegal residence than she is about remarriage.

This proves to be just one of many inconsistencies in this rather arduous monologue. Donovan’s character work is unconvincing; she often melds accents and uses an intensely aggravating pirouette to indicate a character change. However, there are moments that are enjoyable—a tentative entrance into a spiritualists’ church, the imitation of her parents—all of which is accompanied by a lively soundscape. Donovan is likeable and must be congratulated on the stamina that propels her performance. One wishes only that she offered a five minute chat rather than an hour long spiel, as her chirpy mania eventually grates.