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Seating Plan

 
Olivia Thompson Review by Olivia Thompson 3 Published: 7 Aug 2025 Gilded Balloon Patter House Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

At the birthday party of a couple whom the audience will never meet, two strangers are seated together at the far end of the table. Mavis (Izzy Radford) is affronted and stand-offish, insisting she deserves a better seat as a childhood friend of the birthday girl.

A charming, engaging show with fantastically charismatic performances

Her only companion is David (George Airey), a seemingly laid-back and personable young man who grows increasingly frustrated by her antics – especially when he reveals he’s in a relationship, crushing Mavis’s hopes of meeting an eligible bachelor. Mavis is Bridget Jones on steroids: spitting wine, lying about her job, and even faking a collapse to gain attention. David tries to remain polite, but the evening ends in anger.

A year later, the roles have reversed. David, now drunk and obnoxious, has lost his job at the Office for National Statistics and is spiralling. Mavis, meanwhile, has matured and vaguely references a new relationship. She's not thrilled to be once again paired with David, who is itching for another argument. There's a noticeable jump in Mavis's characterisation between their first and second meeting, and the causes for this are only partially explained, with some details left to the audience’s imagination.

Seating Plan is a romcom of right place, wrong time… and wrong time again, as the two continue to cross paths over the years. This is a charming, engaging show with fantastically charismatic performances from Radford and Airey. It leans into the romcom formula with such sincerity that a few subversions feel almost disheartening. Still, with sharp banter, clever staging and delightful costumes, Seating Plan is a fun and feelgood experience.

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The Blurb:

What if you were sat next to the love of your life and just didn't know it? Stuck beside each other at a dinner party year after year. Some would call it fate, Mavis and David call it a nightmare. She's keen. He's terrified. Together, they're trapped. Forced proximity breeds love… and contempt. Think One Day meets Sliding Doors, with a dash of Julia Davis' Nighty Night. A fresh twist on the classic romcom. Seating Plan is a poignant exploration of fate, loneliness and the invisible ties that bind us – even when we're too stubborn to notice.