Review: EIGHT GIGABYTES OF HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY, Orange Tree Theatre

Online porn addiction, debt collectors, unhappy marriages and acute boredom. This is the bleak world in which Australian playwright Declan Greene's play Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography is set. As part of the Orange Tree's Directors' Festival, Gianluca Lello directs the UK premiere of a show of acute awkwardness and the blackest of humour.

Despite its title, the play is not so much about porn, but more a quest for some sort of happiness in a depressing world. Two nameless and unhappy, middle-aged people meet online in an attempt to escape their miserable lives. She is frightened of her violent ex and is addicted to shopping. He is in an unfulfilling marriage and addicted to porn.

The two people are desperate for human contact, tenderness and sex. Together, their conversations explore the uncomfortable experiences of modern online dating, the consequences of the decisions they make and the dark realities of being human.

Matthew Douglas is confident as the man, but also desperate and has a huge amount of self-loathing. He is well-spoken, has a good job in IT and wears designer shirts. He also looks down on the woman's choice of wine, carpets and physical appearance with very credible sneering.

Cate Hamer begins more hopeful as the woman; her online chat is filled with emojis and overuse of exclamation marks. Hamer has more of a backstory to draw upon; a violent ex-husband and a peevish daughter. She has become immersed in debt due to her shopping addiction; a clear emotional void she is trying to fill.

Both have to expose themselves emotionally and physically onstage and do so with a huge amount of honesty and vulnerability.

There is no big climax or great drama in the play. We pity the pair and their sad lives, but we are also relieved that we are not them. They are easy to see as victims of their own misery, but it becomes clear that Greene is pointing out the universality of the themes of boredom, unhappiness and despair that could relate to any one of us.

The play is a fascinating exploration of modern, online interactions, loneliness and the quest to be accepted, liked and desired. The pair are not even attracted to each other, but their need for sexual contact and validation as a human being attractive to someone, overrides that inconvenient truth.

Gianluca Lello's clean and crisp direction exposes all uncomfortable confrontations within the script: sexual observations are raw and unedited. A first face-to-face date is so excruciating in its awkwardness and stilted conversation that it is hard for the audience to sit still. A certain amount of movement is necessary at the Orange Tree in the challenge in making sure every side of the audience feels they can see the production. The actors spend a little too much time facing each way, which occasionally disengages the audience.

Cory Shipp's design is clinical. The sparse set of white raised platforms where the actors sit and stand is lit starkly from above, with neon stripes that crackle and flash as the scenes change. The strobed lighting at the start of the production, as various voices lament their personal defects and situations, starts very effectively, but goes on too long and very tough on the eyes.

This is a bleak, but funny play featuring some wonderfully convincing performances. As part of the festival, the Orange Tree are offering tickets for £10 for one play or £15 for two; it is hard to see better value for an excellent evening's entertainment.

Eight Gigabytes Of Hardcore Pornography is playing in rep at the Orange Tree Theatre until 10 August

Photo Credit: Orange Tree Theatre

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