Find out how critics have been reacting to Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s world premiere play…
WhatsOnStage: **** “Mod’s performance, at once engaging, witty and utterly lost, compels attention. Like the play, it engages seriously with a subject that is too often hidden but is altering an entire generation’s understanding of relationships. It’s valuable to begin to bring it into the light.”
The Guardian: **** “It’s a play that confirms Chetin-Leuner as a clear-sighted yet sanguine chronicler of all manner of relationships, not least with ourselves.”
The Standard: **** ” This is an uneven but bold probing of a dirty little secret in society that finds, in Ambika Mod, an eloquent expression of underlying pain.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “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.”
All That Dazzles: **** “Written by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, Porn Play is a no-holds-barred depiction of sexuality, addiction and control, taking an unfiltered and uncensored look at a subject that can be considered taboo and not spoken about in public.Frequently shocking, it is unapologetic in its attempts to do so and is quite refreshing in its open, stark honesty. Chetin-Leuner’s writing beautifully weaves conflicting tones, offering moments of comedy throughout, only to pull the rug from under you (quite literally in one part) with a darker moment near instantaneously.”
Time Out: *** “there’s no denying that it’s a singular work, both enjoyable and distressing, and its ultimate message is maybe less to do with porn specifically and more that any addiction is capable of destroying you.”
Theatre & Tonic: **** “Almost like watching a documentary, Porn Play, feels educational in its exploration whilst also creating moments of dark laugh-out-loud comedy and gut-wrenching empathy. Somehow Porn Play does it all, and with a superb set, outstanding cast, and intriguing writing – it does a very good job.”
Theatre Vibe: “Ambika Mod’s performance is particularly impressive. On stage for the entire one hour and forty-five minutes, she is utterly convincing, shifting seamlessly from hard-nosed lecturer to flawed, vulnerable human being, masturbating. The supporting cast of Will Close, Lizzy Connolly, and Asif Khan play multiple roles with skill, and their rapid costume changes are remarkable.”
The Telegraph: *** “Porn Play starring Ambika Mod is uncompromising, uncomfortable – and too often unsubtle watch.”
The Stage: *** “Ambika Mod stars in a provocative drama about transgressive desire and addiction”
The Arts Desk: “New play about porn addiction is rather superficially imagined and lacks drama.”
West End Best Friend: **** “Porn Play’s subject matter is incredibly bold and thoughtful and so are the performances of its cast. Ambika Mod is fearless and magnetic as Ani. She hardly leaves the stage and brings a devastating naturalism to this intense and challenging play. “
The Independent: **** “The ‘One Day’ star plays a young professor whose addiction to violent pornography online makes for confronting real-life viewing.”
Broadway World: *** “It’s hard to believe that this relatively tame exploration of a very modern topic is in the very same room that birthed a far more sexually provocative work over fifty years ago. Despite the fine acting, Chetin-Leuner has little new or valuable to say about her eye-catching subject that hasn’t already been well covered by the likes of Steve McQueen’s 2011 sex addiction drama Shame. By the end, we are left with a softcore spectacle that is all promise and no penetration.”
British Theatre Guide: “Porn Play sensitively alerts us to an issue that, as Ani’s reference to a real-world study reflects, is now being discussed. However, we do also need to change a world that generates such destructive obsessions. That is a much bigger debate for elsewhere and other plays.”
To find out more visit: https://royalcourttheatre.com/events/porn-play/