Pornography

by Simon Stephens

Pornography looks at the events of the first week of July 2005 (the G8 summit, Live 8, the announcement of the 2012 Olympics and the 7/7 bombings) through the perspectives of eight anonymous individuals, including a terrorist. The play can be performed by any number of actors with the scenes presented in any order. This flexibility means that it is ideal for student groups: containing four monologues, two duologues and fifty-two self-contained anecdotal speeches.

This Student Edition offers a study of the meaning, context and performance choices available in this subtle and political play. The in-depth commentary explores the play's themes, its kaleidoscopic structure and the play's production history, looking at both the German and UK premieres. The editor, Jacqueline Bolton, incorporates previously unpublished interviews with Simon Stephens and the directors and dramaturgs associated with the early productions. The commentary reveals the play's performance possibilities, as well as discussing its accomplished form, innovative structure and compassionate impetus. It also includes a chronology of the playwright's life and work, an introduction giving the background to the play, commentary on themes, characters, language and style, notes on individual words and phrases in the text, questions for further study and bibliography and further reading.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, 21st Century, London, Fiction, British Literature

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 25, 2008

Reviews

[Jenny Gladheim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perspektivene til forskjellige mennesker i sammenheng med bombingene på metroen i London.

Formen er interessant, samtidig kjenner jeg igjen veldig mye fra mange andre som bruker dette "talekoret" som virkemiddel. Jeg er jo veldig glad i Sarah Kane, og Stephens minner jo om han i de voldelige og seksuelle bildene han maler, men likevel mangler jeg den treffsikkerheten Kane har.

Når monologene overlapper, og monologene viser til dialoger, blir teksten rikere og jeg liker det. Det er disse overlappingene av historiene som er der stykket har mest energi!

Mye spennende å ta med videre i egen skriving!

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stephens on London and the 7/7 bombings. His stories of isolation and frustration barely touch on postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and their discontents.

[Taylor Rousselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

holy shit this was good but also depressing so I’d like to go curl into a ball and cry now thank u

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the lead up to the events of the 7/7 bombings, exploring the impulses that people have and the ways they cause them to act.
The seventh piece is the most heartbreaking, offering a brief sentence bringing each of the victims to life (except for 43, whose absence is made all the more emotional).
I found the second half of the play far more effective than the first: leaping from students stalking their teachers to an incestuous sibling relationship, I found it hard to get on board at the start.

EDIT 11/12/17:
After rereading this, I've had to lower my star rating from four to three stars. Previously, I hadn't considered how the text obscured the potential for staging and - although I don't have time to watch a production of Pornography right now - I just can't imagine how it would work in front of an audience. If I had to pick one word to describe this, it would be: confusing.

[lils · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)
heartbreaking exploration into human connection and how normalised the lack of it is in modern society. Stephens writes a terrorist that seems utterly desperate to be stopped in his tracks, longing for someone to connect with him and prevent it. but no one does, just as no one interferes with the other obscene behaviours in this play - no one steps in, no one makes a connection, and therefore the atrocities continue.

this play would be so interesting to direct !! especially with the various nods to previous scenes. I assumed all of the scenes took place simultaneously, but it would be interesting to play with time in order to further explore connection - e.g. could the ticket guard referenced in scene 4 be one of the siblings in scene 5 ??

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A subtle, interesting play, that avoids hitting it's subject too directly. Very little of the play deals directly with it's "main subject" (the 7/7 Bombings in London 2006) and is instead a kaleidoscope of several people of the city. Yes some of the scenarios are hyper-dramatic and reek of fringe theater (incest, a sociopathic child) they are treated sincerely and thus feel welcome rather than worthy of an eye-roll. In the end it really seems to be about people living closely in a city and still having to strive for a connection of some sort.

[Iman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great juxtaposition of fractured-shattered Britain lives!

[Uri · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,5 stars

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good but not my favourite Simon Stephens play and without the clout of some of his others.

[TaTi ~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my type of play. I guess I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to theatrical pieces.

[Emilia Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say reading this was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. I will always rave about Simon Stephens and his work but once again, this play lives up to his brilliance. The overall structure of the play is so unique and works fantastically, with each scene a standalone monologue/duologue; they all interweave however, with the various characters all experiencing the time of 7/7. Stephens explores the various reactions to the attacks from each of the characters in a fascinating way, as well as (unsurprisingly, being the great writer he is) presenting overall incredibly complex and brilliant characters and situations to a reader/audience. Stephens also has such an wonderful way of writing mundane, relatable human interactions which I always admire and love. For example, in Scene 3 when one character is talking to another about their ex’s new partner - “who, despite my best intentions to the contrary, I can’t bring myself to dislike.” / “Cunt.” Off the bat, the prologue is beautiful and genuinely haunting. Scene 5... When I tell you I GASPED at the line “You’re my sister” - dear GOD! The final scene had me welling up, so fucking heartbreaking and so beautifully written. This play is fantastic and 100% worth a read.

[Jess Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Stephens as a play write so I don't think I could ever not enjoy something he's written. The play is about the 7/7 bombings so I'd be aware of that before picking it up. I love the alternative structure of it, there's no set amount of characters and there's no indication of who says each line, this may be confusing for someone who isn't too into plays/ script reading. The ability to imagine that the sections are from a the same couple of characters is interesting, they could also each be from entirely separate characters. I like the idea that the sections can be performed in any order.

[Megan jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent style of theatricality to Kushner or Butterworth. Heartbreaking and breathstopping. Tragic and beautiful.

[Júlia Freitas]

Read for uni.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bueno

[Kaylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this play. The last scene made me cry.

[clareta · Rating 3 out of 5]

such a cheerful read to get me going during this happy little day

[ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

wow, we are human

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven poignant vignettes leading up to the London bombings.

[Ellie Rayner]

For Uni x