I attended ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ (one of the longest names for a musical I know & impractical to tweet the whole title) which was produced by SEDOS on the 9th March.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,’ is a musical comedy by Jimmy Robers and Joe DiPietro. It is based around a series a short scenes and songs which tell the story of the various stages of a relationship. It does not have characters the you follow throughout the show but does depict numerous journeys through life and the ups and downs of a relationship, from the first date, to marriage, to babies, to divorce or conversely being in love 30 years down the line. The show however is a product of its time being written in the 1990’s. SEDOS does their best to bring it up to date with references to IPhones and online dating profiles slipped into some of the dialogue. Despite this the dating scene has changed hugely since then and the music is lacking in references to Tinder or at least a text – rather than waiting for that all important phone call. This however is not SEDOS’ fault as they did what they could to modernise the dialogue or even the setting of some of the numbers but their ability to do so is limited.

Photos by Michael Smith

One of SEDOS’ strengths is their ability to cast the show well and cram it full of talent. This show is no exception to the rule. In the opening and closing numbers when the full cast were on stage I didn’t know where to look as there was so much going, the stage was just brimming with characterisation. The show is normally performed by 4 people however SEDOS produced it with 12 actors/actresses and all of them had great comic timing, a must for this production. A few highlights of the night for me was the scene leading into, possibly the most famous number from the show ‘I Will Be Loved Tonight,’ which was played well by Brice Sedgwick and Fiona Allan. I also enjoyed Kate Gledhill’s performances across the night, her singing voice had power behind it and the variety of characters she played were all distinct and funny in their own individual ways. The casts’ main success however was that although the show was very funny it was played honestly and allowed you to recognised bits of your own relationship being satirized on stage (mine in particular was the long suffering husband waiting in the shop for his shoe obsessed wife – sound familiar?!).

SEDOS took the decision to produce the show acoustically. This was a smart decision and resulted in a balanced sound that allowed us to focus on the character and humour rather than a wall of sound hitting the audience. I particularly enjoyed the sound produced by the company as a whole in the opening and closing number, their harmonies were spot on and gave it a rich sound. The lighting was kept simple although at times slightly dark when the actors were off to one side of the stage.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is a show that you can relate to if you have ever been in a relationship or even just been on a date. SEDOS have once again achieved an end result to be proud of, a truthful, funny musical bursting with talent.

To read my review of SEDOS’ last production ‘Pornography’ click here and to check out their future shows click here. I Love You Your’re Perfect Now Change plays until 12th March 2016 at the Bridewell Theatre.