Unscorched is the winner of this year’s Papatango Prize for new writing. It’s a sensitively imagined piece in which Luke Owen looks at the predators who exploit children online and the sentinels who try to frustrate their crimes.
Tom (a delicate Ronan Raftery) takes a job in child protection. This involves tracing offenders by means of “digital analysis” — a fancy way of saying he spends his time examining websites identified as suspicious by the police or members of the public. At first he is relaxed about what this entails but soon the horrific nature of the footage gets to him — and later he finds himself disturbingly desensitised.
His feelings are complicated by his relationship with Emily (Eleanor Wyld). Her hairless body, enthusiasm for wearing kids’ pyjamas and affection for a stuffed toy called Mister Snuffalump remind him uncomfortably of the material he watches at work.
Meanwhile, Tom’s colleague Nidge seems incongruously jaunty. He discusses the ins and outs of his job as if he’s explaining how to sell mobile phones, and celebrates an investigative breakthrough with a raid on the office stash of biscuits. John Hodgkinson conveys well Nidge’s superficial blitheness and the angst that eats away at him in private.
Director Justin Audibert deftly handles the scenes between Tom and Emily. The best are their awkward exchanges while speed dating, as they size each other up. But Georgia Lowe’s design, though effective in suggesting the way people compartmentalise their lives, is ungainly.
Owen’s writing is observant, and there are snappy moments of humour. Yet despite approaching painful subject matter Unscorched doesn’t feel urgently ambitious and never ventures anywhere unexpected.
Until November 23 (0844 847 1652, finboroughtheatre.co.uk)
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