Rose Matafeo, Arcola Theatre review - Starstruck star muses on love

Rose Matafeo knows how to make an entrance, as she enters the stage with a choreographed dance. She's useless at ending things, she says – shows, relationships – so she's going to start On and On and On with something memorable. 

She doesn't need to, as this affable Kiwi has the audience hooked straight away in her first stand-up since her success with romcom Starstruck, 2018's Horndog and her appearance in 2019 edition of Taskmaster.

Starstruck – which she also co-wrote and starred in – was a funny and honest account of twentysomething relationships. But now, at 32, Matafeo is doing some reassessment. Much of what she talks about in her failed relationships sounds authentic – with an additional comedic rinse, which may or may not be true but works nonetheless. It is endearingly honest and self-mocking.

The show was inspired, she said, by her overuse of the Notes app on her phone – where she wrote everything from shopping lists, her will, gags for her show and random thoughts. Printing it out was a mistake, she admits, as she strews pages about the stage. Why can't she use a notebook like everyone else? Well because one of her pet hates is people writing in notebooks in public. Guilty as charged, guv.

Matafeo – an energetic and likeable performer – is happy to run through several more things that she dislikes. There is a shocking – shocking, I tell you – revelation about Taylor Swift and Gen Z are mercilessly mocked for their verbiage that uses a lot of words but says nothing of import. And her section on the importance of candles in their “self-love” is a hoot.

But beyond the jokes there's so much thoughtful stuff here, much of it touching on the philosophical about how we change as we age and can't go back to our previous selves. Some I would have liked her to explore more but a well crafted gag is never far behind the serious reflections that Matafeo makes on love and relationships, including her misguided penchant for posh English boarding school-educated types. She describes it as “a form of international diplomacy” as she helped them locate their feelings.

There's a deep dive into how she went about getting help from online coaches about her tendency to love too much and about being dumped, which leads to a fantastic rug-pull. And to belie her earlier claim about endings, this one is really smart.

• Rose Matafeo is at Arcola Theatre until 19 October, then Britten Theatre on 26 October
• More comedy reviews on theartsdesk