We Want You to Watch

by Alice Birch

PIG / ‘Are you finding this harder to hear, is this more difficult on your stomachs because we are women.’

This is about pornography.

This is an interview. This is an intervention.

This is an interrogation.

We’re recording now.We want to pull its plug out. We want to stop its heartbeat. We want to blow its brains out and begin again.

We know exactly what we’re doing.

We’re not stupid.



An unsettling, powerful new piece of theatre tackling pornography and violence against women.

Genres: Plays

84 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2016

Reviews

[Hollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I connected to this Birch play more than Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.

This play has this interesting dynamic which highlights how important it is to take on issues like porn, but also highlights how easily people can get tunnel vision. An issue is never just the issue at hand, there are complexities and systems interwoven that often we do not consider. We also often become so obsessed with an issue and it’s immediate solution, that we don’t consider the long term repercussions of that solution and/or what a world post-issue (in this case pornography) should look like. These complexities are expressed, in part, with humour which Birch incorporates in a very self aware manner.

Although this the experience of drama is never as full my purely reading, the in depth stage directions and description of movement give light to truly how dynamic and physical this piece is. Not only is that appropriate for the subject matter, but also for the human nature that connects the audience, to the art, to the actors and creatives.

[kenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick re-read for my essay. whilst the play tackles the sheer brutality of the pornography industry clearly,, i feel that it neglects any answers to how this would be resolved in a realistic manner. perhaps this was an intentional frustration ??? i read a criticism claiming the ‘extreme humour’ devalues the ‘poignancy’ of the argument & tbh i get this. although i can understand this as a piece of radicalism i really wanted a delve into the relationship in the free will of commercialized sex & the impact this holds to women everywhere. not much theorized argument and more confusion. saying this though,, i think it’s a very impressive piece of dance-theatre and i enjoyed the structure of 4 playlets. i would recommend however personally i preferred Birch’s ‘revolt’.

[Ershen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because I was interested in seeing how activist theatre could deal with the topic of violent and degrading pornography. The script, coupled with movement cues, reads as promising but I did feel like the topic at hand wasn’t tackled in a satisfying manner. Perhaps this was the intention, but I would like to have seen more scenes written in that dealt with the question of “what next?”. Beyond the text, I can imagine how staged this would be an uncomfortable visual spectacle — and fittingly so, considering the title and nature of violent pornography.

[Nick Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

beach read

[Astankova20 · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as striking as Revolt.She Said. Revolt Again. but still... Alice Birch

[Gillian Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel like this is much better watching than reading