Porn Play at Royal Court Theatre Review
Photo by Helen Murray
Written by Eloise Thody for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Contains depictions of Pornographic content, masturbation, self-injury, sexual violence and addiction.
Opening on the 17th November and running until 13th December is the gripping new play by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, Porn Play, playing at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. An instantly provocative title – Porn Play is unrelenting in its analysis of addiction – specifically the porn addiction of young professional, Ani, played by Ambika Mod. The story follows Ani through her struggle with an addiction to violent and extreme pornography, exploring how it seeps into her life and disrupts the relationships she has with those around her. It also poses the question – when does watching this content stop being enough – at what point does what we watch on the two-dimensional screen creep into the real world?
Firstly, the set is a stand-out piece of design expertly crafted by designer, Yimei Zhao. The Royal Court Upstairs space is renowned for its experimental, adaptive sets – transforming the space to fit the play – but the design (and the need to wear shoe coverings) instantly made this set an experience. Representative and symbolic of femininity - and covered top to bottom in spongy carpet extending into the seating area – this stage was one of the best uses of set design I have seen. Convenient hidden pockets over the stage to discreetly hide a laptop or duvet were utilised fantastically by the cast (a favourite use of these hidden set pieces being in the doctor scene… you have to see it to believe it!) The set, which gets increasingly torn up as the play goes on, is a wonderful reflection of the protagonist’s journey – and those metaphors and reflective moments are not easily missed.
The use of metaphor throughout the play – in both text and in direction was a little simplistic in moments and perhaps guilty of over-explaining for the audience. When the play begins, we are told that Ani (Mod) is a university lecturer, who has just won an award for her work on John Milton, 17th century poet known for writing Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost being one big poem all about the story of Adam and Eve, temptation, and the fall of man. Ani’s journey almost exactly follows this story - the repetition of the apple motif – from apple pie to a glass apple trophy, even to using an Apple MacBook – is overused. The snakes on the poster begin to make sense now. There are some wonderful moments where Mod addresses the audience as her students and has impassioned rants about Milton, her delivery never failing to enrapture the audience as students – some even nodding their heads in response to her. And these lovely glimpses into the characters world seem enough for the audience to draw the parallels which are sometimes too spelled out.
The cast are phenomenal, each actor bar Mod, multi-rolling throughout the play to create the diverse sphere of people Ani has around her. Lizzy Connolly shines in the multiple characters she plays – from seductive, silent Eve, to youthful, righteous student, to bored, dry doctor – Connolly finds a unique approach to each, never failing to amuse the audience with her witty, driven character work. She was a wonder to watch and bought some of the funniest moments, which are so needed in a play of such depth. Will Close also showed incredible range with his characters – perfectly embodying both the soft, caring boyfriend as well as the car dealership sales guy you never want to get stuck in a lift with. Asif Khan showed a wonderful sensitivity and care for Ani’s Dad, allowing the audience to be truly struck by the tragedy infecting her life. Ambika Mod herself was incredible as Ani, and brought the dry, determined, intelligent, yet fragile character she does best. Ani is a deeply flawed character, wonderfully written by Chetin-Leuner, with Mod keeping Ani feeling very real, grounded, and accurately haunted by her addiction.
The play does extremely well at keeping such a serious topic light enough to be palatable for an audience, whilst still delivering its hard hitting, grounded message. If this play was about a drug or alcohol addiction, I doubt it would have the same punch. But with exploring a taboo topic, pornography addiction, especially for women, the play is designed to shock and rewire the way an audience thinks from the start. You leave the theatre questioning your own perspective on gender, gender bias, and sexuality in a way you don’t often in theatre. Almost like watching a documentary, Porn Play, feels educational in its exploration whilst also creating moments of dark laugh-out-loud comedy and gut-wrenching empathy. Somehow Porn Play does it all, and with a superb set, outstanding cast, and intriguing writing – it does a very good job.
Porn Play is playing until the 13th December 2025 and is currently sold out.
★ ★ ★ ★
