Adelaide Fringe Review - Ukulele Dream Girl: Love at a Distance
Words by Your Local Hok
One pink-haired woman, one ukulele, and one stigma-challenging and quirky show about the experiences of love from a distance.
Phi Theodoros is the Ukulele Dream Girl, sharing her stories and nuances of distant love she has experienced though her life and performing arts career. We got a preview of Phi and her ukulele at last year's ‘Pride at Plant 4’ event as part of last year’s Feast Festival, which left us eager to see more of this pink-haired lady and her little ukulele.
If being apart physically due to the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that we express a lot of our love and affection through physical acts. Love at a Distance tells us a story of the various forms of love as it’s experienced from a distance, such as eyeing a cute stranger across the room, swipes on online dating apps, video chat dates, love across geographical locations, anonymous love letters, and through song and serenade.
Messages of love, desire, and affection flow through the air in the form of a paper aeroplane during the show, which intensify as the show progresses.
The Ukulele Dream Girl brings to light some forms of love which aren’t represented as often in the mainstream, such as polyamory, love which pushes and pulls, and intimate self-pleasure. She shares these forms of love through her songs in a normative and casual way, making them fairly easy to understand for those who aren’t familiar with them.
Although Phi discusses and sings about some heartache, she’s not looking for forgiveness, but rather, acknowledgement, empathy, and self-reflection of your own experiences of love or heartbreak which may resonate with your own love narratives.
Let’s get one thing straight, the ukulele is a serious musical instrument. Phi plays her ukulele with flair and the utmost expression, and you know when things get serious when she brings out the kazoo for one of her songs about distant love.
The Ukulele Dream Girl makes you feel like you’re hanging out with your best friend who is sharing with you all of their stories of distant love they’ve experienced before. Being a one-person performer, Phi keeps her audience engaged throughout the entire show with minimal use of prompting, letting her talents speak for themselves.
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Show details: Ukulele Dream Girl - Love at a Distance