Over the past three years the verb 'to Facebook' has crept into the English language, its widespread use indicating the ever-increasing might of the social networking giant. Facebook has swiftly infiltrated our lives - now displayed in profile format and thrust into the public domain for others to scrutinize. It has rendered face-to-face contact redundant and spawned a generation of 'Facebook addicts' for whom social success is measured in terms of 'pokes' and 'tags'. It is this lunacy at the heart of our obsession with social networking that lightening-paced comic play Facebook Fables captures with brutal precision. This is a cautionary tale of doomed cyber romance that exposes the dangers of living life online.
Jilted career-girl Iz plots to uncover her ex-boyfriend's new woman's identity by creating a Facebook profile in his name. Sure enough, unsuspecting glamour girl Keeley and psychotic telesales executive Fiona take the bait and find themselves hopelessly reeled into a phantom cyber relationship with the charismatic but elusive Will Desburgh. The central characters are hilariously drawn and the talented three-strong cast adopt a variety of comic roles to illuminate the lives of the trio.
Ingenious staging and vibrant characterisation ensure that the short scenes are packed with energy, humour and variety. And the live action is complemented by Facebook-related images projected onto a screen at pertinent moments, a medium that's used sparingly but to great effect.
Fringe shows that endeavour to comment on the latest social phenomena are notoriously variable, but this slick production is a real treat.
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