Love in The Time of the Fifth Grade is a hilarious look at how solo star Marina Di Marzo (who we were lucky enough to chat to on our YouTube channel, which you can check out here) lost her Casanova streak at the age of eleven — and how things were never the same since! With a slideshow-assisted, stand-up-style presentation, this show is perfect for anyone longing for a much-needed shot of nostalgia, whether that’s through music, photographs or even Microsoft Paint.
I think it is fair to say that every single person has some memories of their childhood that they find uncomfortably embarrassing, which they will under no circumstances ever share with their friends or family, never mind a group of random strangers. However, Marina appears totally at ease retelling the events of her childhood romances as she commands the stage and injects the perfect amount of comedy throughout. One of the most relatable stories for me personally is the sequence in which the solo performer shares an earlier obsession with biting another pupil, especially during any disputes. This was striking for me as there was a time when one of my peers (just to clarify, definitely not me) would go around pinching people, which caused many pupils to become incredibly upset. Linking back to the show itself, I asked my mum for her advice on what to do about this, and following what she said, the next time this happened, I proudly told the schoolyard bully that she must be doing this because she had a crush on me… and this put an immediate stop to her pinching tirade.While Marina was hitting her sensual peak in her earlier years, I was using my skills to scare people out of pinching, but I still managed to prevent further bullying, so I guess that’s a positive. Another bit of nostalgia was the fact that Marina also shares a collection of hand-drawn characters in Microsoft Paint, which was an application that I personally spent hours on in my younger years. The writer and solo performer used these images to help guide the audience into her stories, which spread across multiple years, while also bringing back all those memories of sitting at the computer creating ‘masterpieces’, which is a fantastic addition! I talked about this in my interview with Marina, but I did once create a homescreen from my family computer using MS Paint, only for me to misspell my own father’s name.
It is not just her lower-school experiences that Marina decides to share with the audience, however, as she also talks about the awkwardness of growing up as a young woman in her Italian family. There is one sequence in particular that truly deserves to be the topic of a sitcom on TV, when Marina reaches the age of needing to get her first bra and decides to head to a local Ann Summers store, only to be joined by her traditionally Italian grandfather, which in itself is so incredibly awkward. In the show, this leads to Marina actually flashing the audience her bra, as it is the same one she purchased all those years ago. So, I suppose this was a message about investing properly in a good bra, which is a very important message for those who need them! The cringe-inducing stories don’t stop there, however, as Marina begins sharing the story about how she lost her virginity (which she did tease in our interview together). This, again, was met with nervous titters from the audience, as it was funny, but also many people will have a similar story that makes them withdraw inside themselves if anyone were to find out.
Despite literally baring all (including her bra) to the array of random strangers in the crowd, Marina ensures the show itself stays fast-paced and energetic throughout, with a series of dance breaks that help transition from modern day to historic experiences and allow the audience to easily follow along with the jumps in time. The music used in these breaks also consisted of different Y2K classics, which helped inject even more nostalgia into the presentation. The show comes to an end with a fantastic Disney Channel-inspired original song (while Marina dons an incredible handmade skirt) about how undercooked scallops are a metaphor for living life to the fullest. This is particularly powerful when you consider the fact that earlier in the show, Marina talks about her main inspirations in life being Sharon Stone and, most importantly for this inclusion, the hot-headed Gordon Ramsay.
In conclusion, Love in The Time of the Fifth Grade, written and performed by Marina Di Marzo, is a nostalgia-infused look back at the personal stories that made the solo performer who they are today. With a series of highly relatable and hilarious stories, Marina encourages the audience to not only look back at but also embrace the cringey things we may have done as children, as they can be both a source of entertainment and powerful moments in our development. I would rate this show 3 out of 5 stars!
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