REVIEW: I Bought a Flip Phone, Panos Kandunias and Peej Productions, EdFringe 2026 ★★★

Trying to turn his life around before his 27th birthday, Charlie has decided that the iPhone is out and a flip phone is in. Back to basics. He’s fed up of the endless scrolling, the wasted hours and feeling bored and lonely all the time. Instead, he’s going to unplug and learn some new hobbies. Find what he is really passionate about. Yet, constantly interrupted by texts and phone calls anyway, Charlie’s relationships start to bleed into his conversation with us and it becomes clear that buying a flip phone is not a one-and-done solution to feeling more connected, present and purposeful.

I Bought a Flip Phone is a fun and, at times, moving portrayal of mental health, relationships and feeling like you’re living through other people’s experiences in an age of constant online connection and social media comparison. However, at times this is a play that felt too relatable, like it was rehashing conversations I’ve already had extensively, in person and online. I wonder whether a more unique and personal perspective is needed to really lift this production.

That said, writer and performer Panos Kandunias is funny and lively in his portrayal of Charlie. He is immediately confident as a solo stage presence and handles audience interaction smoothly and with a generous warmth. He creates a believable and loveable character and balances the playful sarcasm, impromptu one-liners and deeper, pensive reflections on loneliness and feeling a lack of purposes with a natural fluidity.

I think I Bought a Flip Phone could be hugely elevated with some more inventive staging. While neat and clearly tightly rehearsed, it became a lot of walking around the stage of Playground 2 in a repetitive way that seemed to lack artistic vision or creative concept. Similarly, I think Kandunias and his team could interrogate further the form of the show: it felt like it didn’t quite know what it is (Stand up comedy? Theatre? Storytelling?). I struggled to separate the character of Charlie from Kandunias himself and I feel there could be a much more theatrical, acted-out version of I Bought a Flip Phone which allows the audience to be more immersed into Charlie’s reality.

From never-ending catch-ups with friends you’re not even sure you want to hang out with anymore, to the stresses of planning a birthday party in your twenties, Kandunias has created a highly relatable and uplifting piece of comedy stand-up that reveals how a world obsessed with being connected has actually isolated people more than ever.

Recommended Drink: A bright, sweet and refreshing Long Island Iced Tea.

You can watch I Bought a Flip Phone at ZOO Playground until 30th August at 15:35 (60mins). Tickets are available via the EdFringe Online Box Office.