one4review | On 13, Aug 2025

Furniture Boys is a one woman show set in the comforts of a home with a two-seater sofa taking centre stage. The concept of furniture replacing boyfriends is certainly a new one and you could be forgiven for thinking Emily was having a mental breakdown! However, her performance is genius and in an absurd sort of way, it’s a revolutionary idea to use home furniture as a coping mechanism for a break up or substitute for a previous partner! Speed dating furniture was also discussed but wouldn’t that be like a game of musical chairs except you take one home with you!

After a poem about a couch that Emily wrote some time ago, we are introduced to some of her items/boyfriends, these include Liam the lamp and a blind guy, literally! She then moves on to a bit of glove and sock puppetry and entertains the audience with an energetic yet loving scene, portraying her love for all things well, furniture!

After a conversation with the couch and an insight into Emily’s insides, the show gets even more zany as Emily plays a short video of when she was on a date in Central Park with a chair and goes on to show when they met the chairs relatives which was very clever and hilarious!

At this point you would be forgiven for thinking ‘What on Earth, is this woman nuts’? It gets even more bizarre as she goes on a blind date with a chair and ends up having sex with it?? Emily is then in awe when she discovers a furniture maker and has an uncontrollable urge to interview her, asking her deep and meaningful questions about furniture. She ends the show with another video that encapsulates her love for her chair.

It took me a while at the start to get my head round this show but once you put reality aside and buy into the concept, you just get swept along with it. Emily’s acting is so good, she pulls you into her ludicrous yet essentially funny show leaving you a bit bewildered at the end.

****

Reviewed by Steve J

Underbelly George Square – Buttercup

12.45 (1hr)

Until 25 Aug