BWW Reviews: LONG STORY SHORT, Charing Cross Theatre, September 18 2014

Twitter is taking over the media with traditional journalism and real journalists unable to compete #dumbingdowninnit

This process began when Rupert Murdoch flew in to London in 1969 to buy the News of the World and plunge it downmarket #givethemwhattheywant

With new technology spawning new news media all the time, content is king and breaking news is the king of content #befirstorbenowhere

When three soldiers go missing on a mission in Afghanistan, only two are named and speculation mounts that Prince Harry is the third #mediacatnip

Under pressure, a small-time cable news station posts a photo of Harry with the missing soldiers and it goes viral #whitherethicsinatoughmarket

The source of the photo, the teenage brother of one of the missing soldiers, is called in for a live interview, but events suddenly overtake everyone #panic

Three years later, things have turned out unexpectedly for all concerned, as the end point of the Murdoch journey downmarket is reached #Levesonalreadyirrelevant

Writers Lee Anderson, Adam Foster and Andrew Whyment have written a bitter, funny, scary black comedy about the media and its "morality" #zeitgeistnailed

They get super support from a young cast playing multiple roles, in which Cole Edwards excels as the missing soldier's tweeting teen brother #offiesawardworthy

Performed all-through, switching from 1969 to 2014, the staging, though clever, can get a little confusing at times #twoactsplease

That said, this is an accomplished and (dare I say?) important play that asks crucial questions about the Fourth Estate and comes up with some uncomfortable answers #genieoutofthebottle

With a greater focus on the primary story and even more speculation about what might happen next, it would be no surprise to see this play at a big West End theatre #medialovieswillloveit

And, almost as an afterthought, with new plays like this and Land of our Fathers round the corner at the Trafalgar Studios, theatre appears to be rude health #fineyoungwriters

Long Story Short continues at the Charing Cross Theatre until 11 October.

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