Swiping Right review – punchy questions about dating across the political divide

The Guardian

3 days ago

If the Guardian's Dining Across the Divide column were a show, it would look very like Swiping Right. Performed by Sophie Anna Veelenturf of the Belgian company Berlin, it considers how much political opinions should affect our social and sexual relationships.
Veelenturf talks directly from experience. An eager participant in online dating, she wonders which potential partners she is filtering out – and, likewise, which of them is filtering her out – because of their stated political leanings. On an app such as Bumble, she identifies herself as being leftwing and consequently meets like-minded people. In an increasingly polarised society, one tribe has decreasing opportunity to talk to the other. Left and right do not even meet, let alone exchange views.
But there are exceptions. At the ages of 17, 21 and 23, Veelenturf dated three rightwing men, who she identifies respectively as Max, Noah and Jeff. As part of her research for Swiping Right, which consists primarily of recorded conversations, she contacted these and other friends and ex-partners to see how big a part they thought political difference played in their relationships.
The picture that builds up is nuanced. There are those who seek to convert their partner to what they regard as the obvious rightness of their worldview. There are others who enjoy the excitement of being with someone who thinks passionately and independently even when they disagree. Some have too little interest in politics to care; others discover you can keep a lid on differences only until those differences start affecting life choices, such as the friend's husband whose conservative values conflicted with her independence.
That is before you include those free thinkers who vote right on some issues and left on others. Veelenturf is willing to be open minded, even if there are some lines she will not cross. If the show is theatrically constrained by its reliance on recordings, it raises spiky questions about the tricky business of getting along.
At Zoo Southside, Edinburgh, until 24 August
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