Review: ARE YOU WATCHING? at Royal Court

Presented as a sequence of unsettling vignettes, the play deconstructs porn, its generation, viewership, victims, fans, the impact of AI and the untouchability of site owners who for years have permitted its unvetted and unchecked distribution on their platforms, irrespective of apparent legal protections and safeguards. Much of what is covered proves thought-provoking, but the piece also veers unapologetically into darker and distinctly uncomfortable territory.

Clearly catalysed by the headline grabbing 2024 case in France in which Gisèle Pelicot discovered that her husband had for years been inviting indiscriminate men from online chatrooms to have sex with her while she was drugged and unconscious, the play manages to cover a multitude of angles and matters for consideration ranging from medical research into erotic stimulation, pornography, sex-crimes including child abduction and the general minefield of non-consensual scenarios.

Among the various, often revisited, inter-staged scenarios: A woman is subjected to a young police officer who whilst eager to create a compelling and sympathetic back story to help with media efforts to locate her missing daughter, fails miserably to empathise with her traumatic situation. A son confronts his father who it transpires has been discovered creating AI generated porn using his son's likesness in family photographs. An actress is reassured by her agent that the firm's legal team are addressing her concerns about the plethora of AI generated porn films appearing online which use her image, encouraging her instead to reframe the situation as he notes her skyrocketing media profile. Two girls discuss the ethical and physical conundrums presented by the Pelicot case without actually naming it, while another young woman is paid £5,000 by a research group to be observed and analysed while watching various pornographic film scenarios. Directed by Jess Edwards, each scene is played by the troupe of assembled actors, some of whom play multiple roles. They are: Maimuna Memon, Lucy McCormick, Billy Bolt, Nicholas Rowe, Kosar Ali and Abby McCann.

Of course prostitution is widely considered the oldest profession, and it could be argued that the creation and distribution of associated imagery, comes a close second. Indeed it would be churlish to ignore the fact that sex sells and is wholly ubiquitous in almost every walk of life. And while it may represent a wide spectrum of different things to different people — ranging from mild boredom, relief, excitement and all-consuming life-style fetishism (depending on the users), it can also mean regular and lucrative employment for others. It is perhaps those grey areas where morality isn't alway so clearly defined, which have been of increasing concern in recent years.

With the advent of the internet, it has become apparent to those of us who are perhaps less tech-savvy that our need for connection and intimacy can unwittingly place us in situations where we can fall victim to the practises of cruel and unscrupulous individuals. Dressing-up fantasies and role-play may feature as relatively innocent titillation for many, but during the course of the play, we are broadly asked to consider scenarios where lines are crossed in the creation of fantasy situations and who is ultimately to blame when things get out of hand, safeguards fail, and people get hurt.

In reality, very little of the material tackled in the piece is tidily resolved. Instead, the play's content and themes will undoubtedly trigger a multitude of tantalising (and possibly heated) conversations, as patrons make their way home.

Should you wish to become such a patron, ARE YOU WATCHING? plays 65 mins straight through without interval and continues at The Royal Court's upstairs space until 4th July.