I Bought A Flip Phone | Playground 2 at ZOO Playground (Ed Fringe)

Smartphones have taken over the world. The instant rush of joy from access to boundless entertainment and real-time human interactions are designed to be as addictive as possible, both through design ingenuity and algorithms that have been keenly optimised to be near prescient. Their effects on humans are being seen in real time, with the global average time spent on our phones being nearly five hours a day.

I Bought a Flip Phone starts with a rejection of that premise, its protagonist abandoning the dopamine machine in an attempt to get some peace of mind and start his new year fresh. A time for real connections, meaningful conversations and no more diving for his phone every time the message bell goes off. Of course, it’s never that easy.

Writer/Actor Panos Kandunias plays Charlie, a man not quite sure where he’s going or what he wants from now. This one big decision is used as a jumping off point into a melee of interlocking topics, ranging from a multifaceted exploration of male loneliness to how every aspect of one’s life must be compared to everyone else’s.

The script explores many of these from a queer angle as well, adding an extra dimension from an often ignored view and weaving together a rich and detailed tapestry that’s explored in detail across the hour.

There’s a little bit of audience interaction which Panos handles well, playing Charlie with a believable hesitance and slowly lowering his guard to let us into more of his world. The character’s struggles and doubts clearly come across in the monologues, never over the top or preaching but an honest and believable portrait of a man slowly watching the water creep up to drown him.

I Bought a Flip Phone is an entertaining, introspective and heartfelt exploration of feelings we can all recognise, never trying to provide answers but just bringing them out for all to see. A smartly written and emotionally honest dialogue that’s well worth the watch.

I Bought a Flip Phone plays at 15:35 at Playground 2 at ZOO Playground until 30th August - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★★☆ (4*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review