I Love You Because

Advertising that I Love You Because is based on Pride and Prejudice claims allegiance to a Jane Austen who'd have slapped you for your presumption. There's a quartet of characters—oddly stripped from the six including Daniel Boys and Jodie Jacobs who played it on the London fringe two years ago—but it's almost impossible to divine who is which from the novel. Neither of the women has gossiping sisters, nor a manipulative mother and worst of all Jack Gardner, far and away the best performer and possibly Darcy, doesn't even get his shirt wet.

In modern day New York, dumped preppie Austin (geddit?) and dopey horndog brother Jeff, who has a bizarre line in malapropisms, chase tail via a dating app and meet bluestocking Marcy and frumpy Diana with whom, guess what, they fall in love – even though "she's not my type". Plot, moral and character motivations all tied up in one sentence. Which is why this is a musical not destined for greatness, even though the tunes are pretty and the performances mostly strong.  

It's easy listening – Joshua Salzman's tunes are sweet and tinkly and not entirely derived from Jason Robert Brown, and there are some pithy lyrics from Ryan Cunningham, although given the romantic territory some of the rhymes are a bit moon/June. He's not yet rivalling Tim Minchin.

Best of all, for Fringe, live music with a keen band under MD Joe Beighton.