'Porn Play' review — Ambika Mod is fearless in powerful new play about pornography addiction

Read our review of Porn Play, starring Ambika Mod and written by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, in performances at the Royal Court through 13 December.

Summary

• Porn Play has its world premiere at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
• The play is written by Sophia Chetin-Leuner and directed by Josie Rourke
• Ambika Mod stars as a brilliant academic with a violent pornography addiction

It will shock no one to know that there is a fair amount of masturbation in the world premiere of Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s Porn Play. From the very first scene, Lizzy Connolly ethereally drifts on to the stage and, spotting her reflection, begins to pant, arch her back, and sensually waggle her tongue. Her nymph-like performance sets the tone, but it is Ambika Mod (One Day, This is Going to Hurt) who takes on the exposing lead role in Chetin-Leuner’s fearless examination of female desire.

She plays Ani, a 30-year-old academic specialising in the work of John Milton and Paradise Lost, who has just won an award for her first book and is on the cusp of beginning her second. Her life appears full of promise, yet her attraction to violent pornography is quickly shown to be a full-blown addiction, which seeps into every aspect of her life — from romantic relationships and friendships, to her health, and even her career.

On arrival, audience members are given a pair of brown shoe covers to protect the softly padded cell of the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs — a venue known for transgressive, boundary-pushing work, such as Sarah Kane’s Blasted. The stage gradually spirals in concentric circles to the soft belly of Yimei Zhao’s set, in a not-so-subtle nod to the nucleus of the female body, a metaphor which is taken even further when the seams of the stage are pulled apart to birth an assortment of props, including duvets, laptops, and even (impressively) a GP’s examination table.

Mod begins the production with her characteristic dry and cutting demeanour (recently seen to great effect in one-person show Every Brilliant Thing at @sohoplace), challenging boyfriend Liam (played by Will Close) when he probes her interest in violent, demeaning porn. The exchange is funny — the play often is throughout — as Mod tucks into a pie topped with an apple (another not-to-subtle nod to female sexuality and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden) and Chetin-Leuner’s sharp script produces zinger lines such as Liam’s remark, “don’t start throwing second wave at me”. It teases at the sexual double standard between men and women: men are expected and allowed to have more punishing tastes, while women’s preferences must be safe and palatable.

Ani is continually misunderstood and rejected by those around her, from the Gen-Z student who is upset by the framing of r-pe being sexy in Milton’s work in one of her seminars, to her bubbly best friend, whose boundaries are breached at a sleepover. Even when she seeks help at a support group, she is unwelcome because of her gender — as the only woman, she is a “trigger” to the men. Josie Rourke’s production does a brilliant job of showing how, like drug, alcohol, and gambling addicts, Ani is completely isolated.

There is nothing sexy about porn when it comes with this much sadness, and Mod’s raw disintegration is often hard to watch, such as during a GP examination for vaginal injuries resulting from her addiction, when punishing intrusive thoughts crowd in at her most vulnerable moment and she is bathed in Mark Henderson’s penetrating spotlight. The lights sometimes turn on the audience too, whether we’re her students during a lecture or witnessing her breakdown at an awards ceremony — voyeurs of both her public and private moments.

While the pornography and masturbation cycles are relentless, there is only one moment that teeters on becoming too extreme and single-handedly earns the production its 18+ rating, with one woman on press night even blocking her eyes. Significantly, it is a time in which Ani isn’t alone with her laptop.

Close multi-roles between boyfriend Liam, Ani’s eager student Sam, and pornography support-group sponsor James, a bluffer who parades the stage stuffing his face with a donut while telling her it’s better for women to remain 2D, “so you don’t have to worry about them”. Close cleverly draws out the anxiety in each, as all three men are threatened by Ani’s sexuality and its impact on them. By comparison, Asif Khan compassionately plays Ani’s steady father, the only character to offer a hand to pull her out of the darkness.

Chetin-Leuner’s tight, 100-minute play asks lots of probing questions about the complicated and thorny strands of female desire, but only gently touches on the likely root of Ani’s struggle. In Porn Play’s final moments, shame and grief mingle together in a harrowing display that shows not only the skill of its lead performer, but the craft of its ambitious young writer.

Check back for Porn Play tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Ambika Mod, with Lizzy Connolly, Will Close, and Asif Khan in Porn Play. (Photos by Helen Murray)