The Dating Show by Moonshine Comedy Vilnius

There are dating shows where you sit at home and watch other people fall in love. And then there is The Dating Show, where the dating happens right in front of you, with a very involved audience and absolutely no guarantee of what is going to happen next.

The evening starts with two hosts bringing the audience into the game. Anyone brave enough to participate can apply through an online form, while everyone else gets to sit back and watch. The participants are selected around two weeks before the show, so if you’re feeling adventurous, there is always another chance to put your love life in the hands of a theatre audience.

The first participant comes on stage blindfolded. The hosts start asking the important questions: What are you looking for in a partner? What are your passions? What are your red flags?

The audience gets involved too. Questions can be sent live through a QR code, while another person on stage joins in with their own questions. This makes the whole thing wonderfully unpredictable, and sometimes very funny.

Then the first participant leaves, and the second one takes their place. They get the same treatment, with the hosts trying to figure out whether these two strangers might actually have something in common.

Finally, both participants return to the stage, still blindfolded.

Time for the roses.

A rose held up means “I want to continue.” A rose lowered means “let’s leave it here.” First comes the decision to remove the blindfolds and finally see the person they have been talking to. Then, after meeting face to face, there is one last rose decision: do they want to continue getting to know each other after the show?

Four participants took the stage during our evening, making two matches, and watching their reactions and interactions with the hosts made for plenty of laughs.

There is also a fun little detail at the entrance: audience members receive a ticket indicating whether they are single or in a relationship. And yes, couples are absolutely welcome. In fact, there were several couples in the audience, proving that you don’t need to be looking for love to enjoy watching other people try to find it.

The Dating Show is part dating experiment, part improv comedy and part audience participation. You never quite know what someone is going to say, what question will come next, or whether the next rose will go up or down.

And honestly, that uncertainty is half the fun.

Moonshine Comedy Vilnius brought their show Comedians and Dragons* to the Tallinn Fringe Festival last year, which continues in Vilnius even though they have no more shows on the schedule for Tallinn this year. The Fringe continues until 18 September.

Author: Hélène