Edinburgh review: Blush (Underbelly)
When playwright and actress Charlotte Josephine last teamed up with Snuff Box Theatre they created the smash hit play Bitch Boxer. This year they're back with Blush, a two-hander that quite literally shines a light on revenge porn and our relationships with, and on, the internet.
At blistering pace, Josephine and Daniel Foxsmith, introduce five characters, each of whom have been affected by online sexual transgressions; from a woman enraged when her sister becomes the victim of revenge porn, to a man whose failing marriage leads him to a porn addiction.
Throughout the piece the consequences of these digital deeds become further reaching; family feuds erupt, jobs are lost, reputations shattered. Ever sent a ‘harmless’ cock/boob photo to a significant other? Josephine wants you to know the dangers.
Edward Stambollouian directs with pinpoint precision; as a photographer’s box lights punctuate the characters’ ever-increasing exposure, Blush marches on apace. Their lives entwine, their stories all part of the same problem – in a world where most of our interactions take place online, how can we protect ourselves when things go sour? An argument on the phone is gone once it’s over, on Twitter it’s out there for good.
While the male characters feel slightly less explored than their female counterparts, the two performances are stellar. Josephine flits between similar yet strikingly unique caricatures with ease. Her performance is angry, infectious and without doubt one of the most energetic at the fringe – at one particularly rambunctious point in the performance steam literally rose from her body.
Blush is essential viewing for anyone that owns a computer or mobile phone and, just like Bitch Boxer, it packs a heavy punch.
Blush runs at Underbelly at 18:00 until 28 August (not 16).
