Tag: Josie Rourke

Porn Play by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 8 November 2025

This excellent production, which Janie and I saw on the second preview evening, made us feel uncomfortable in many ways. The central subject matter – addiction to violent on-line pornography – is a deliberately discomforting topic. Playwright Sophia Chetin-Leuner takes this topic on in an unflinching yet surprisingly nuanced manner in this play.

It is really a play about addiction taking hold of a bright individual and destroying their life. It just so happens that violent porn is the addiction in this case.

The acting was universally excellent. Ambika Mod, as the victim of the addiction, is, understandably, getting most of the plaudits. She is on stage almost throughout the play and what a challenging role it must be. Will Close, Lizzy Connolly and Asif Khan provide excellent support, playing multiple parts each and doing so convincingly.

Josie Rourke is a superb director. This is the first time we have seen her work since she returned from her career break. She’s certainly still got what it takes.

Royal Court Theatre information about the production can be found here.

Formal reviews of the production can be found here. They have been almost universally positive, resulting in the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs run selling out.

I said the production made us feel uncomfortable in many ways. Apart from our discomfort with the subject matter…not least the topicality of questions around abusive and violent sex…we were also visually and physically discomforted by the set/seating.

The carpeted set looked like seedy living space from the 1970s or 1980s – deliberately I’m sure. The audience is asked to put shoe covers on when entering, as if to symbolise a need for personal protection…but also perhaps for practical reasons to protect the set.

But most discomforting of all was the seating on those “carpeted steps” doubling as seats. No back support and 100 minutes of tense drama. We walked out of the theatre like John Wayne having just dismounted from his horse…or…[insert your own unsubtle and unsuitable metaphor here]. Still, it was worth it.

Excellent play, excellent production.

Privacy by James Graham, Donmar Warehouse, 24 May 2014

This was a fascinating piece.

It is an uber-modern play about privacy, data and all that. Some members of the audience, perhaps foolishly, left their mobile phones on and acquiesced to a request to submit a selfie – only to discover that geeks can find out a heck of a lot about you just from the simple combination of that submission and other stuff we readily transmit and is there to be found.

To some extent the piece was born of the Edward Snowden/Wikileaks saga, but in truth this play is an entertainment about the issues for ordinary people more than the geopolitical aspects or the Snowden case itself. We did subsequently see a super play that really was about a Snowden-type case, Mike Bartlett’s Wild at the Hampstead, which was cracking:

Wild by Mike Bartlett, Hampstead Theatre, 17 June 2016

If this now sounds like a geeks night out without drama, I’m giving you the wrong idea. It was a powerful story and piece of drama to boot – a strong cast and superb production qualities as we might expect from the Donmar.

Click here for the excellent Donmar “Behind The Scenes” material for this play/production.

Here is a link to a search term that finds reviews and other useful resources about the play/production.

The first time we came across James Graham – This House, we weren’t so keen. But this one was sufficiently different and engaging to convert us to Graham’s writing…

…just as well, because Ink really was smashing:

Ink by James Graham, Almeida Theatre, 17 June 2017

The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt, Donmar Warehouse, 9 June 2012

What a palaver.

I was really keen to see this rarely-performed play, having absolutely loved reading it “back in the day”. Further, it was a cracking good cast, Josie Rourke directing – unquestionably one for us.

So we booked it, way in advance – as soon as tickets became available to members…

…for 2 June – which turned out to be the date of Charlotte and Chris’s wedding.

My bad? Janie’s bad? For both of us, presumably it was so obvious that the first weekend in June was the youngsters’ wedding weekend that we were both far too polite to book out the date in our diaries. I’ll write up the wedding in the fullness of time.

For The Physicists, of course, it was “impossible” for mere ordinary members like us to swap our tickets by the time we spotted our error…

…but it was not impossible for one of Janie’s high falutin’ clients who had some sort of corporate or “patron” membership to arrange a switcheroo for us. Thank you, anonymous high-falutin’ client – we were truly grateful to you – I’m sure Janie also found ways of thanking you gift-wise, foot-wise, etc.

With the benefit of hindsight, of course, perhaps we would have been better off without this one.

What a mess.

All style. All star-quality. No substance.

Perhaps it has dated badly. Perhaps it was adapted in a way that simply didn’t work for us.

This was the culmination of an especially disappointing week of special treats for me, given the unprecedented lack of cricket at Edgbaston on the preceding days:

Long To Rain Over Us, England v West Indies, Edgbaston, Days One and Two, 7 & 8 June 2012

Oh dear.

Here is a link to the excellent downloadable “Study Guide” pack from the Donmar on this production.

Here is the trailer for The Physicists:

Here is a link to reviews and such – mostly less than special.

Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, Donmar Warehouse, 17 June 2000

Really good.

That’s what I wrote in my log. And I meant it.

I had previously seen Peter Hall’s excellent 1988 production of Orpheus Descending, with Vanessa Redgrave, Jean-Marc Barr and other fine acting folk:

Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, Theatre Royal Haymarket, With Jilly, Followed By Annalisa’s Party, 10 December 1988

Janie is especially partial to a bit of Tennessee Williams. Although I suspected that I would not be seeing a better production that the one I saw in 1988. the lure of Helen Mirren and Saskia Reeves was enough for me. Also involved, a young Stuart Townsend in the male lead, a yet-to-fall-foul-of-my-displeasure Nick Hytner directing, ably assisted by a young Josie Rourke.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was quite impressed:

Orpheus Billington Guardian

Article from 28 Jun 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor described Hytner’s production as “powerful, if over-emphatic”:

Orpheus Taylor Independent

Article from 28 Jun 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Kate Bassett wrote well of it in the Telegraph:

Orpheus Bassett Telegraph

Article from 29 Jun 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh described Hytner’s production as “staid”, but still rated the experience “very good”:

Orpheus de Jongh Standard

Article from 28 Jun 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

I wrote “really good”, not “very good”. I wonder whether the LLMs detect a difference between those two ratings?

Passion Play by Peter Nichols, Donmar Warehouse, 13 May 2000

I was partial to a bit of Peter Nichols.

This cast and crew looked too good to miss as well. Gillian Barge, Cherie Lunghi, James Laurenson, Nicky Henson, Nicola Walker & Cheryl Campbell, directed by Michael Grandage. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for it.

In those days, the Donmar was one of our favourites – it didn’t feel quite so corporate/touristic back then. We were able to get decent seats for a Saturday night through a sensible type of membership scheme.

I remember this as a fine production but I also remember us finding it a little underwhelming.

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph liked it, while finding it a lesser play than Pinter’s Betrayal or Stoppard’s The Real Thing:

Passion Gross TelegraphPassion Gross Telegraph 23 Apr 2000, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I sense that the Donmar showings in April/May were actually all deemed to be a preview run ahead of a lengthy West End run with this cast throughout the summer – an experiment that clearly worked and which was part of the Donmar’s journey towards a more commercial/corporate style. Hence few reviews but several preview pieces in the press.

Nick Curtis’s Standard interview with Nichols is interesting:

Nichols Curtis StandardNichols Curtis Standard 17 Apr 2000, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com