NSFW review, The Royal Court

Private dysfunction

NSFW (Not Safe For Work) is a dog's breakfast served on Ritz Hotel tableware. It examines 'power games and privacy in the media and beyond' by making two private moments - naked shots of a teenage girl taken by her schoolboy lover, and the details of a magazine intern's love affair - public. When the guardians of privacy challenge the editors, what we learn is that we can all be corrupted if the price is right.

In the first scene, set up like a bad sitcom, the topless 14-year-old unwittingly finds herself as a lad's mag pin-up after her boyfriend sends in his photos. When her father complains, he is emasculated. The Editor suggests his anger stems from the longing he felt for his daughter on seeing her big jugs. They settle a price. The father is invited to resubmit pictures when his child reaches 18. In the second scene, a beautiful middle-aged magazine editor forces a young man to articulate his girlfriend's physical flaws to prove all women are imperfect. Why?

Therein lies the rub: it isn't at all clear. Lucy Kirkwood's story keeps fighting itself. One senses disapproval running throughout the 90 minutes, but ultimately the baddies are proved right. Both the father and the dedicated young lover sell their women down the river. Woof. The Ritz tableware is the cast.  Janie Dee as the second editor is ever superb, as is Downton's Kevin Doyle as the confused father. Sacha Dhawan provides the only points of hope. Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh is suitably seedy; Henry Lloyd Hughes of the Inbetweeners film is an amusing fool, and Esther Smith from Misfits makes interesting faces.

In conclusion: The set is great, and there is some lovely writing. The two good guys deliver some elegantly structured images of love and innocence. But for a finer understanding of the subject, get a box set of Drop The Dead Donkey.

References
Royal Court, tickets
Charles Spencer review in The Daily Telegraph