I Promise You Sex and Violence (Edinburgh Fringe)

I’d been hoping to come to David Ireland's play and be pleasantly surprised, to find fresh and positive perspectives on a piece that has been widely labelled a turkey.

And it starts promisingly, with an establishing scene between flatmates Charlie and Bunny – she a sex-starved 30-something, he a confused masturbating bisexual – that crackles with sexual tension and alludes to themes of identity and loneliness.

But with the appearance of Bunny’s friend Raymond, who he’s set up with Charlie because she wants to sleep with a black man (Raymond is in fact mixed-race, cue a ‘hilarious’ first encounter in a restaurant), the narrative veers into some deeply strange and even offensive territory.

The fact Raymond is unaware of Bunny’s sexuality leads to him being outed as a homophobe, while Charlie’s rape fantasies – which she bizarrely reveals from under a bedsheet burkha – throw her status as a feminist into confusion. But Ireland’s shock and awe tactics get mangled in embarrassingly crass dialogue that made me feel sorry for those delivering it. And his attempt to establish a tangled love triangle fails largely because his trio of characters are so utterly unlovable.

Director Lorne Campbell – who has responded to the critical mauling with admirable frankness – should never have allowed this to leave the rehearsal room, let alone headline his otherwise promising Northern Stage programme at King’s Hall.

A mistaken black out mid-scene was probably the highlight of the show. And only because it temporarily relieved us all from the agony.

I Promise You Sex and Violence runs at King's Hall until 23 August

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