Are You Watching? | Royal Court Theatre

TRIGGER WARNING - mentions of sex, violence, rape, and assault.

Are You Watching? is a relentless and powerful play about sex, desire, and how watching is in and of itself a form of participation. Georgie Dettmer's debut play features several different storylines all tied together by the idea of desire and observation, showcasing just how far and nuanced these themes can really go.

While there are several different storylines developing throughout, the main throughline is of two young teenagers (played by Kosar Ali and Abby McCann) as they talk about the worst thing they’ve ever seen online. Thus begins the horrific description of what happened to Gisèle Pélicot night after night while she was made unconscious by her husband. This show is definitely not for the faint of heart, as the theme of desire and even violence show itself time and again throughout these stories, as the girls look on in what seems to be shock but also fascination.

There is a story about a mother whose 14-year-old daughter is missing. A father who is divorcing his wife over AI-generated photos of young boys. A woman who is partaking in a sex clinic observation to see what levels of arousal she gets when shown various videos (spoiler alert, they’re not all straightforward porn videos). A female celebrity whose leaked intimacy scenes are used to generate deepfake porns and eventual killings of her. Yes, all of these stories exist in just 65 minutes of the play.

And if the point of the play is to overwhelm the audience with an onslaught of violent and uncomfortable stories, then mission accomplished. But the main criticism I have with the piece is that there are too many storylines, and so the message and the subsequent emotional impact for these stories is drowned out by an overwhelming feeling of shock and despair.

So many of these stories were hinting at some deep level of perversion and fear that would have been fascinating to explore. Instead, we’re getting whiplash from the constant back and forth between scenes, where there is no time to let the emotions breathe.

Maybe the point was to whip you up until you were angry and outraged. As a woman who hears these stories all the time, I can easily get there. But ultimately, if the point was to make me think about how I and others are complicit in sexual violence by the things we watch and engage with, then that wasn’t possible in the onslaught of storytelling.

Regardless of the format, the show feels like a necessary watch, especially for those who aren’t as familiar with how sex and violence can often intersect, for women in particular. The traverse staging, from director Jess Edwards, was a stroke of genius in ensuring that the stories were clear and almost in-your-face throughout. There was no safe distance to be.

The lighting, designed by Bethany Gupwell, was also fantastic, with the use of harsh lighting and spotlights to really bring on those feelings of isolation at times. And while the music design, by Xana, was also great at setting the harsh tones of the show, the overall sound volume was, in my opinion, too loud. Yes, you want to jar people awake, but do we have to cut every minute-long scene with a grating and extremely loud sound?

Lastly, there is some fake blood that comes out on stage during the final moments as the two young girls roll around in it and re-imagine someone like Gisèle Pélicot fighting back her husband. It’s a rather easy wrap-up for a rather horrific story, and I couldn’t help being distracted by the blood.

While this show was in a lot of ways an excellent form of theatre, I couldn’t help feeling like we were watching trauma for trauma’s sake. No analysis, no moment to process, no commentary. Just unrelenting stories that make you despair afterwards about how pervasive sexual violence is, and even more so for a woman in the 21st century.

Are You Watching? is currently playing a sold out run at the Royal Court until Saturday 04th July - more information can be found here.

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review