Why Am I So Single? review and star rating: ★★★★
“People would say to us, Six is amazing, but when’s the next one coming?” Why Am I So Single? writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss say in a programme note. The new show from the writers of Six, which has one of the most streamed soundtracks in the world, is the stage equivalent of the sonic phenomenon of the difficult second album.
How do you follow the success of the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe hit that has become one of the nation’s most beloved musicals? That show is now so cemented in West End folklore that it’s odd to think it only started at the Vaudeville in 2021.
So, have they done it again? A bigger success might have been the actual resurrection of Anne of Cleaves, but short of achieving actual witchcraft, Marlow and Moss serve us an impressive new delight. Why Am I So Single? is an often hilarious, poignant and relatable rumination on modern dating, with a soundtrack that immediately becomes an ear worm, with subject matter so red-hot it would interest anyone, of any age, and in any style of relationship.
Read more: Six The Musical review: Still the best musical in town
Just why are we all so single? Statistics suggest dating apps may be done for good in as few as three years. More people – of all sexualities – are choosing to fly solo, perhaps because fewer of us are having babies. Much of this points to exciting new freedoms, but also this generation right now faces the biggest questions in terms of what future relationships might look like.
I feared this megawatt explosion of youthful singing and dancing would look very pretty but evade tackling these important questions head-on. Why Am I So Single? certainly looks incredibly pretty, with hilarious, imaginative detailing like humans playing pieces of wallpaper and fridges full of prosecco, but by song three, 8 Dates, about being cancelled on eight times, I realised Why Am I So Single? intended to talk about the hardest, most confidence-knocking challenges of dating currently. (As someone who’s been cancelled on with an hour’s notice multiple times for dates this year, the song felt like a vital piece of catharsis.)
We’re hanging out with Oliver and Nancy in the living room of their share house, although they play slightly altered versions of themselves: Oliver and Nancy, in homage to their favourite musical, Oliver! (One of many self-knowing musical references the audience pours over.) Songs generally characterise the challenges the duo face when dating, like Meet Market, a comment about the promiscuous nature of queer dating, and Men R Trash, a slight at heteronormativity that isn’t as mean nor as reductive as it sounds. Marlow and Moss know better than that.
Structurally, it isn’t a million miles away from Six, with each dating challenge getting its own ecstatic song-and-dance number, much like each of the queens get their moment to shine. There are a couple of parts to improve: Disco Ball gets the hugest cheers, but is also the weakest song, and the final half-hour’s narrative, where the two fall out, feels a little tropey and conventional. But they’re minor quibbles in an era-defining show that’s best trick is its writing that is often laugh-out-loud funny, whether relatable or downright outrageous. I want to spend endless more evenings on the sofa with Oliver and Nancy.
Dating right now is actually changing, and the global perspective on how we spend our lives is shifting. Sure, Why Am I So Single? is a fizzing, popping new musical, but it’s best strength is that is also contributes to the debate about our current romance dilemma, one of the biggest shifts facing humankind.
Why Am I So Single? plays at the Garrick Theatre until 13 February 2025