“NSFW” by Lucy Kirkwood
Nottingham New Theatre

The play's title refers to a website acronym meaning "not safe for work" and applies to soft-porn material you wouldn't want to be caught browsing.

The first half of the play is set in the offices of a lad mag called Doghouse that delights in publishing blown-up shots of female breasts: the crisis comes when the editor, Aidan, discovers that a well-meaning junior, Sam, has sanctioned the use of shots of a 14-year-old girl. The girl's age comes as a bit of a surprise to everyone, especially Sam

The play doesn’t just focus on the grubby end of the men's mag market: but goes on to show Miranda, editor of a glossy women's mag called Electra, interviewing the now-destitute Sam and imbuing him with her own corrupt values.

I always find it quite rude to look at one's watch while in the theatre, but I had to check mine because this 90 minute play just flew by and the end came all too soon for me.

Yet another new play to me, which is one thing that the New Theatre are so very good at, choosing little known plays which are powerful and relative pieces of theatre which larger theatre groups shy away from. I am so pleased that NNT are not backwards at coming forward where their choice of plays are concerned.

The cast are perfectly chosen and they all stand out as incredibly talented young actors. There was absolutely nothing I could find to fault this wonderfully written play.

Rupert (Ronan Sullivan) is one of those typical "lads" you could see in any pub, and he just happens to have the perfect job for a character like Rupert, working on a lads mag. His crude banter with Charlotte (Amelia Bell) is cringe worthy but very funny. This is Amelia's debut for NNT but the comfortable feeling she emits in this role makes her a joy, as well as an easy, watch.

The new boy on the Doghouse block, Sam is played by Charlie Basley. Charlie brings the "wet behind the ears" Sam to life with the main part of the role showing deep embarrassment.

Aidan, the boss of the magazine, is played very powerfully by Zack Collins. This is a powerhouse performance by Zack especially in his scene with the father of the 14 year old girl's father, Mr Bradshaw.

I was really blown away by every performer but Ethan McCrystal who played Mr Bradshaw had me leaning forward in my seat with a wonderfully passionate performance. You felt the anger in his tirade against the magazine boss, and what made this even more overpowering for me was this was Ethan's first production with NNT. I don't know if he has acted in the past but this for me showed a very passionate actor who can realistically make you feel the emotions that his character was experiencing.

Completing this brilliant cast was another wonderful character role, Miranda, played by Ellen Dennis. A brilliant comic charcater who we discover to be a harder cookie than first seen. You can see the powerful business woman beneath that friendly and fun exterior.

As I said,the acting and the roles were completely faultless.

Bringing this very entertaining play to the stage is credit to Director Nat Henderson and Producer Georgina Pittman. Perfectly paced and where the scene changes occurred, they were swiftly executed by the cast to flickering lights and to the sound of come classic female 80's pop classics.

Lighting design is by Joe Strickland and Sound design by Yasmine Dankwah backed by an equally talented technical crew.

Why this beautifully crafted piece of writing has not been performed more I don't know. The cast have many pages of script each but the fluidity of the script and timing of this cast make this another classy as well as classic NNT production.

“NSFW” is at the Nottingham New Theatre until Saturday 19 May 2018