Review: Arts Club's SOMEONE LIKE YOU is a Must-Listen for this Season!

Love, heartbreak, and drama - the key ingredients of the perfect audio play to spice up your day! SOMEONE LIKE YOU written by Christine Quintana is Arts Club's newest audio play in their "Listen To This" series and is available for download starting May 19th to January 19th. SOMEONE LIKE YOU brings forth a modern take on the play Cyrano de Bergerac involving romance, hidden identities, and complex relationships. Set in Vancouver, this audio play is the perfect way to support local theatre while satisfying your cravings for a good romantic comedy!

SOMEONE LIKE YOU highlights the relationship between best friends Isabelle and Kristen. Having met at a UBC pit night in 2006, they have been inseparable ever since. Kristen hasn't had the best luck with her past relationships and Isabelle has always been there for her as a shoulder to cry on. Through the thick and thin, Isabelle has been a navigator, advisor, and safe-place for Kristen. When a new candidate for Kristen's love comes into the picture, Isabelle finds herself also smitten with him. Will Isabelle tell Kristen how she feels or will she remain on the sidelines holding her tongue?

SOMEONE LIKE YOU took place in Vancouver and made reference to many hot spots that Vancouverites visit on the daily. Hearing the characters in the story visit Trout Lake or talk about their past experiences at the UBC Pit Pub and the Walter Gage Residence had me engaged in the story a lot more than usual. As a UBC graduate who has spent a lot of time at these places, visualization of the play was effortless. With content from social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook constantly bombarding us, our visual sense can become overwhelmed. It was nice to take a break from that and listen to a story being told. One of the beauties of audio plays is that the actors and writers create a base for the story, but leave room for imagination and interpretation from the listener.

When listening to SOMEONE LIKE YOU, I felt a whirlwind of feelings hit me at different times throughout the play. The depth of emotion I felt was mainly due to how relatable the plot of the play was. It is truly amazing how this modern piece was based on a 100-year-old play, yet the concepts of it are still relevant today. Throughout the entirety of the story, we are shown how complex and difficult relationships can be. Whether it is between two lovers or two friends, every relationship has ups and downs. This play showed the tough conversations that deep friendships could have. Sometimes conversations can be uncomfortable, but are ultimately necessary and unavoidable no matter now much you put off having them. From the start, the problems within Isabelle and Kristen's relationship are visible as someone listening to their story from the outside looking in. Through a series of revelations and unfortunate situations the girls have many tough conversations that don't always end in the best way. Despite these bumps in their friendship road, they end up working out their differences showing the depth of their bond with one another.

Another concept of SOMEONE LIKE YOU that strongly resonated with me was Isabelle's journey to finding her self worth. As the narrator of the play, Isabelle comes off as a person who is confident and witty; however, as we dive deeper into Isabelle's past it is obvious that her past experiences have affected her self worth. Isabelle tends to always put Kristen's needs before her own, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. We learn that in Isabelle's past that she's never been "chosen" by someone else through her nearly non-existent dating life and sad experiences at high school dances which lowered her self-esteem. By the end of the play, Isabelle (with the help of Kristen and Harjit) addresses her insecurities and finally discovers that she deserves to be happy.

Overall, this audio play was a joyful listen. The dialogue was humorous, but also beautifully written. I really appreciated the complexities in Quintana's writing as it led me to really think about my own life and the experiences that I've had regarding the play's main themes. Of course, the audio play wouldn't have been possible with the voices of some incredible actors that brought the characters to life. Steffanie Davis (Isabelle), Jasmine Chen (Kristen), and Praneet Akilla (Harjit) did an excellent job portraying their respective characters. It can be hard to portray a character with just your voice; however the expression that the cast had took the audio play to a new level!

Arts Club's SOMEONE LIKE YOU is a romantic comedy audio play that will make you laugh, cry, and smile. It is a "must-hear" for anyone who is the need for a feel-good love story! SOMEONE LIKE YOU is available for listen from May 19th to January 19th from Arts Club. The audio play costs $10 to listen or $30 when purchased as part of the "Listen To This" series. For more information, please visit: https://artsclub.com/shows/2020-2021/audio-series/.

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