COFFEE DATE – Broadwater Main Stage
Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
Love, Lust, Chaos, Repeat! Four people. One coffee shop. A lot of bad decisions. COFFEE DATE is a sharp, naughty romcom about what happens when you are finally ready to fall in love … and everything goes sideways first, Funny, frank and a little filthy – just like love should be. It was funny and chaotic and surprising in all good ways. It had twists and turns and captures the tumultuous roller coaster dating in Los Angeles.
Set over four days in the same East Los Angeles coffee shop. The stage is set up perfectly. A little coffee shop with plants and tables. A little sofa in the middle. They pulled four guys from the audience and placed two of them on the last table on the stage right and the other two on the stage left. Four people and their warm-hearted romcom, each of them mid-chapter, trying to figure out who they are, what they want, and whether they are ready. Everyone has desires and hopes. Do they want a relationship, or do they just think they want a relationship? But this is a coffee shop where LOVE is brewing.
Henry is in therapy, on the apps, Laura is smart, funny feminist scholar who can write a best-seller but can’t show up for a coffee date, Tizzy lives up to her name, says what she means, and carries a crystal for every occasion, and Roger is Tizzy’s boyfriend. Sort of.
Sharp, sexy, and surprisingly tender. Coffee Date takes on the apps, the baggage, the bad dates, and the terrifying, wonderful moment when you decide to try anyway. Think Before Sunrise meets Fleabag — with a matcha and a conversation that really should not be on speakerphone. It’s funny, it’s insightful, it’s interesting. A modern way of living today where everyone is attracted to everyone and sees love as LOVE; everyone wants love whichever way they can get it.
Coffee Date is produced by Infuturo Entertainment. The talented cast features Jonah Weiland, Lenka Janischova Shockley, Stephanie Chloé Hepner, and Spencer Weitzel.
Insightfully written by Jonah Weiland, beautifully directed by Julia Christgau, and produced by Lexi Sloan COFFE DATE is running at Broadwater Main Stage, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood, CA 90038. Performances are on Friday, June 12 at 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 20 at 12:30 p.m.; Monday, June 22 at 5:00 p.m.; Wednesday, June 24 at 11:00 p.m.; Friday, June 26 at 9:30 p.m. Admission is $22. Mug Club: onstage seating and a souvenir coffee mug, $35. June 24 performance at 11 p.m., $11. Running time is one hour.
Consumer Advisory: 18+. Boldly adult in language and themes.
Online Ticketing at https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13812