What’s it all about?
Loneliness. Abuse. Victimhood. It’s the story of Julie, an auxiliary nurse who lives alone with her cat, enjoys clubbing and, in her own words, is a little bit crazy. Except, of course, everything she does is in a desperate search for the love and affirmation she didn’t get in childhood, when she received far more sinister attention.
When her latest beau suggests publishing a couple of risqué pictures she is sold on his privacy-busting plan by the promise of love and money. The reality is a spiralling descent to rock bottom.
Who’s in it?
It’s a one-woman show, so former EastEnders and The Bill actress Lucy Speed carries the production on her shoulders. Her performance positions the audience somewhere between a close friend and a therapist, as she chats about life, work and amateur porn, exposing horrors then swiftly trying to apologise for them, justify them or sweep them under the carpet.
There’s a heartbreaking hollowness to her Julie, the sense she’s been through so much that there might not be much beneath the cheery, crazy veneer. She deftly captures the lack of self-worth that so often accompanies victimhood.
What should I look out for?
The moments when Julie’s story moves from depressing to as black as her knee-high boots. There are a couple and they have a powerful kick.
In a nutshell?
Speed illuminates the hollow heart of one of life’s eternal victims.
What’s being said on Twitter?
@DionFarnes: @Lucyspeed fantastic performance tonight, thoroughly enjoyable, must see. #AmateurGirl
@GilesCroft: Amateur Girl @St_JamesTheatre last night was really excellent with @Lucyspeed brilliant as ever.
Will I like it?
At 70-minutes long, it’s a short journey down a bleak, murky road that probably has more to say about loneliness and victimhood than it does about the lure of pornography. If you like your drama short, stirring with a dark shock or two, this is for you.