Exes-but-still-pals Megan and Kevin are at a friend’s wedding together when they realise they’ve unintentionally caught their impulsive hook-up on camera. And wait: it’s kind of hot? Would it be such a bad idea to, say, put it online?
So begins Paldem’s fresh, sexy, deeply thorny premise – a headfirst dive into the mess of a situationship, if the situationship was also previously your first ever relationship, and you started fucking again, and now you have thousands of fans demanding you fuck even more, and also you’re both not really sure how to deal with falling under the ‘interracial’ porn category, which is symptomatic of a broader irresolution that has always existed in your relationship, but you don’t really speak about it, ‘cause you’re pals.
Fruitfully described by writer David Jonsson as an ‘anti-romcom’, Paldem brims with the electric chemistry and quickfire wit of a great romcom without any of the feel-good closure. There is so much to unpack here – especially tantalising are the fraught conversations between Megan and Kevin about his Blackness and her compensatory ‘allyship’ posture – that you find yourself wishing the play would just go there into the weeds. As a result, it can sometimes feel a little cautious or unfinished; though perhaps, this sense of dissatisfaction feels even more true to life.
Paldem, Summerhall, until 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9pm