Review: Boys Taste Better with Nutella

A delightfully messy and heartfelt piece

★★★
theatre review (adelaide) | Read in About 2 minutes
33221 large
Boys Taste Better With Nutella
Published 21 Feb 2020

Aggy and Frederick are two second-best friends who are trying their best to improve. Through a series of identical jumps, they flash between past relationships and the present moment to prove their progress. Without much of a fourth wall, performers Caitlin Hill and Peter Wood comically differentiate between these jumps to get the crowd up to speed.

Hill is engaging as Aggy, with an over-exaggerated series of facial expressions and a tendency to allow herself to get messy. Her story is one of failed relationships, and a loss of self through struggling to fall in love. A relatable enough story is compounded with her severe lack of healthy coping mechanisms, choosing instead to jam her mouth (and her arms, and her dress) full of Nutella and Passion Pop (“Just five bucks at Dan’s! Cheap!”)

Wood as Frederick is delightfully camp and has a beautiful tenderness to him. He searches for validation online through meokbang videos – a Korean trend of filming oneself eating alone. His constant struggle with his weight and search for validation is quite heartbreaking, and his dependency on food as comfort is both gross and endearing.

The exploration of seeking validation in a modern world is an empathetic story. The script is jammed with modern references, which can at times feel quite forced. And although the show is tightly presented, the dance offs between Wood and Hill take away slightly from the feel of the dramatic.

In a beautifully tender closing moment, the nature of Aggy and Frederick’s friendship is highlighted, proving that even the flawed are deserving of love and respect.