The Argus: fringe_2011_logo_red_thumbAlthough they are hoping for packed houses there is one Brighton resident which Misshapen Theatre hopes won’t attend their Fringe show.

Phillipa And Will Are Now In A Relationship is a description of a modern love affair, as played out in excrutiating detail on Facebook.

And what makes it most disturbing is that it is based on messages posted on the Facebook wall of a real couple the creators knew from university.

“They had created 100 pages of wall-to-wall,” says Jack Swain, who plays Will in the show.

“It became a party trick for us to read bits out to each other.

“We’ve changed the names of the couple, who have now broken up. He’s out of the country, but she lives in Brighton. She could be aware of it. She might be flattered, but...”

The relationship has been condensed down from two years into a half-hour show, with writer Jonathan Brittain combining the original material with some fictional exchanges.

“The most cringeworthy stuff is real,” admits Swain.

“The play goes through everything, charting a relationship from start to finish. You see them grow and change as people. It’s as much a coming-of-age story as a love story.”

It is also a cautionary tale about modern social networking.

“I’ve been using Facebook a lot less – I’ve become incredibly self conscious about what I write,” he says.

“People don’t quite appreciate how separate Facebook should be from their real life, and how much can be seen. What before you would tell people in the pub now seems to be acceptable on Facebook.

“We did wonder whether we should be doing this, but then they were the ones who made it public.

“In the old days the first time you felt like you were in love you would run up the top of a hill to tell people. Now you update your blog status.”

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