Review: WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?, Southwark Playhouse

10,000 interviews from young people aged between 6-22 have been strung together, to create a piece of verbatim theatre that holds nothing back. Mixing the dialogue with original songs and improvised discussions, Why is the Sky Blue is an intimate and unpredictable 80-minute investigation into the intrinsic essence of pornography.

We could easily have read all of this source material via a newspaper article or on a Facebook thread, but by bringing it to a theatrical space, Tackroom Theatre have created an accessible and entertaining route into the conversation at hand.

The young people are an accurate representation of the diversity of the interviewees. There is an amalgamation of different ages, races, sexual orientations and gender identities - each young person acts as a spokesperson for their self-identifying tribes.

It's this diversity of experience that fills the piece with a genuine authenticity. Alongside the performed interviews, the company ask each other interesting, personal questions about love, connection and sex. It's important to hear such honesty being spoken aloud.

And even though these discussions are navigated hesitantly, they are curated in a way that encourages an open and frank exposure on the impact of adult-rated content. We hear about fetishization, ethnic-minority stereotyping and female dis-empowerment.

It's equally refreshing and distressing to sit through. I suppose that's the point though. The material challenges you to think about your own perception on these things. And let's face it, we all have a pornography story. Be it viewing by choice, pressure, or accidentally stumbling upon it, the content is only ever a few clicks away.

And if this is the case, how do we then protect our young people? Can we? One thing that's made abundantly clear, is that pornography is everywhere; it's can't be hidden, so let's not pretend it doesn't exist.

We're doing our children no favours by brushing it under a carpet. Conversations like this are important, and if we take a moment to listen to the next generation, perhaps a lot of our problems will become quickly solved.

Why is the Sky Blue at the Southwark Playhouse until 19 May

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

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