Reader Reviews
Pornography (Tricycle Theatre, Inner London)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | (Review of Bath production) I was looking forward to seeing this play, not least because I love theatrical stories that use monologue and other devices, but was hugely disappointed. I felt the piece needed a centre, as it seemed lacking in coherence. Maybe Simon Stephens wanted to show how disconnected humans experience events, but if he's showing us real pain, I think he needs to give us real characters, not theatrical ciphers. This may sound harsh, but this play suffers from the 'emperor's new clothes' syndrome. - NotPinter | 14 Sep 09 |
| I couldn't agree more with Jenny, below. On 7/7 I was in London for a conference. Bank Station was shut so I took a bus as news of disruption filtered through. By the time I arrived at the venue Sky News was broadcasting details of the atrocities. I turned around and walked from Cavendish Square back to Fenchurch Street. Not very interesting I know, but then again neither are any of the stories in Simon Stephens "play", only one of which has any real relevance to the bombings, that of one of the bombers. It is also an act of utter cowardice that he is not played by an Asian actor - everyone knows who the terrorists were and it doesn't help anyone to carry out this pretence. On the tube back to Aldgate (where so many lives were lost)I recalled that Stephens was responsible for Harper Regan, far and away my worst experience in a theatre in 2008. With Pornography (absurd title) he has already guaranteed a repeat for 2009. - David Baxter | 26 Aug 09 |
| Sorry guys (I'm addressing the hard working actors who appeared in the Tricycle production) but I was amazed at all the good reviews of this, we both felt we'd wasted our money. The play consists of glimpses of various people living tedious lives, with no structure or dramatic development, and generally rather depressing - as most of it is monologues or duologues it reminded me of being trapped in a succession of taxis listening to succession of disillusioned taxi drivers. Not at one single point did I sit up and think "wow" The audience at the Tricycle was pretty muted, no smiles at the end. Maybe this had an off night but it is hard to think what could be done with this play. The most interesting bit was reading the good reviews posted up in the foyer - ???! Oh, by the way it was about July 7 bombings and how people went on living their lives when it happened, it affected some and not others. Yeah right. - Jenny | 20 Aug 09 |
| Stephens is a very impressive writer and his ability to conjure up a distinct world by his writing is remarkable. This is also a wonderfully acted and directed play. It deserves a very wide audience. - fred | 10 Aug 09 |
| The 'play' consists of the cast enacting brief moments from the lives of those involved in the London bombings: the accounts are fictionalised imaginings and include one of the bombers as a character. While a couple of the lines are quite amusing, overall they are not interesting and the evening lacks drive so that the point of the play evades one. Not at all sure why it was given the title it was nor why the Tricycle chose to accept it. - kilburncat | 06 Aug 09 |
