★★★★★

“a magnetic show that goes straight in the deep end”

Pain and pleasure, desire and shame, spot-on comedy and gut-churning uneasiness; you can’t have the one without the other in the world of Porn Play written by Sophia Chetin-Leuner. Debates on sex, porn and John Milton get turned upside down and presented in a way that makes you sit on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Ani is an academic and a teacher who just won a prestigious award for her recently published book. Her life seems perfect, with her supportive, though a bit toxic, boyfriend Liam on her side and her career on the rise. Here’s the catch: she’s addicted to violent porn and masturbation. What starts off as a conversation about the double standards between men watching porn and women watching porn, which Liam points out is ‘just different’, transforms into a free fall into shame, self-destruction and an intriguing kind of addiction. As she alienates the people around her and her career gets affected, the question arises: will she snap out of it and take control of her addiction?

The whole cast gives riveting performances. Ani’s Father, played by Asif Khan, is exceptional; he is the figure that grounds her, the one who reminds her that she’s more than her addiction and that her struggles might lead to something beautiful in the end. He has a calm strength in him, with just the right amount of fatherly stubbornness. Lizzy Connolly is a comedic genius, making the audience laugh with her mere presence no matter which character she portrays, from the sympathetic friend to the triggered student and the unbelievably accurate medical professional. Will Close, who also plays various characters, has an impressive range, playing the insecure and soft Liam in one scene and Ani’s student who lets his sexual beast loose when Ani asks him to do what he wants with her in another.

Ambika Mod does an exceptionally delicate job portraying Ani. The self-loathing, confusion and fixation with brutal sexual imagery increases as the play goes on, but in a particularly vulnerable manner. She’s gradually going underwater and by the end, where she delivers a fascinating monologue about John Milton’s poem Lucidas and masturbates in front of her father, she makes your heart break as well as your skin crawl in a disturbing climax.

It always is a burden off a director’s shoulders when the script is strong in itself. But that doesn’t mean that director Josie Rourke needs any less credit for Porn Play. She handles the heavy and uncomfortable topics with a balance between seriousness and humour and the more sexual or aggressive scenes with candour. The transitions between scenes, which were to be honest quite a few, are carried out swiftly and enriched by the mysterious presence of a woman who resembles Eve. This female figure is at times playful while at other times sorrowful, possibly representing Ani’s lust and addiction specifically and the objectification (or maybe the empowerment) of women in general.

Designer Yimei Zhao creates a circular, almost vulva-like, stage with different levels that seem incredibly life-like. It’s soft and beige and under its compartments there is an array of props, pulled out and put back in leaving the stage always pristine and ready for the next scene. Some subtle colourful lights within each circle enhance Mark Henderson’s overall naturalistic lighting design, which alternates between bright, lecture hall-appropriate lighting and slightly darker and more ominous lighting.

Your instinct tells you to look away, but you simply cannot. It’s a magnetic show that goes straight in the deep end to talk about sexual desire and the taboos that come with it. There is no sugarcoating, just a beautifully rounded protagonist who loses control in a world that expects women to be everything; and nothing.

EVERY BRILLIANT THING

@Sohoplace

★★★★★

“The contrast between melancholy and hilarity is the essence of the production’s potency”

They are the most dreaded two words in the English language after perhaps “world war” and “admin fee”.

Audience participation.

Eek.

But don’t worry, in this atmosphere of non-judgmental glee, you’re in safe hands. The host is the genial Lenny Henry, comedy legend and close personal friend, or so it always seems.

This is vital. Because volunteers relax, lean in and Henry creates an atmosphere of ramshackle fun.

And, besides, mostly the guests are pre-selected. In a wonderful innovation, the star wanders around pre-show, chatting, meeting the audience and selecting his co-stars based on decades of experience reading an audience.

The worldwide phenomenon that is Every Brilliant Thing began life in 2006 as a short monologue Duncan Macmillan wrote for actor Rosie Thomson. Co-director George Perrin encouraged him to expand it, and the pair gathered hundreds of “brilliant things” from a Facebook group. Comedian Jonny Donahoe later pioneered its interactive style – he takes over from Henry later in August.

It premiered in its full form at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring internationally to over 80 countries. While the events in the play sound autobiographical, they are crowdsourced. They draw on genuine experiences, research, and real audience contributions, so that’s why it feels so authentic. It’s not true and gob-smackingly true at the same time.

Audience members play parts large and small: his girlfriend, his father, the librarian (with sock puppet Graham). Their real-life sincerity dealing with the character’s woes melts hearts. Others, dotted around the auditorium, read out cue cards of “every brilliant thing” when their list number is read out.

The narrative begins on 9 November 1965, when our character, aged seven, finds himself in hospital because his mother, a chronic depressive, has tried to kill herself. His artless solution is to write a list of every brilliant thing that might persuade his mum to stay on this earth.

“One…” calls out Lenny Henry.

“Ice cream,” says a man reading from his cue card.

And so on…

His mother survives but does not shake off her illness and over decades the list grows from the original target of 1,000 to one million.

The character’s own life is a simple story of growing up, moving away, meeting a girl and living with the legacy of a suicidal mother while coping with the illness himself.

It is part lecture on mental health, part improv night, part alchemic magic show. Henry creates such a remarkable sense of supportive goodwill that when he announces he – a shy lad – has kissed a girl, the audience whoops, as though their BFF has just made the revelation on the group chat.

Lenny Henry plays this part for now. Others take over in the run, including Minnie Driver and Sue Perkins. Wonderful though they will likely be, it will be a challenge to top Henry’s masterful control. He has to act, yes, but also direct a troupe of amateurs. From this, there is random blundering and Henry’s improv instincts and natural charm let him ramp up the fun exponentially.

The contrast between melancholy and hilarity is the essence of the production’s potency. Laughter through tears: the sweet spot of teachable moments.

PORN PLAY

Royal Court

★★★★★

“a magnetic show that goes straight in the deep end”

PORN PLAY

Royal Court

Reviewed on 13th November 2025

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Helen Murray

Previously reviewed at this venue:

PORN PLAY

PORN PLAY

PORN PLAY

EVERY BRILLIANT THING

@Sohoplace

★★★★★

“The contrast between melancholy and hilarity is the essence of the production’s potency”