Cast

Synopsis

NSFW is set in the offices of Doghouse – a lads’ mag where the boys are behaving badly; and Electra – a women’s mag where the girls are having a whale of a time. It takes an hilarious, yet disturbing, look at the fast-paced, cut-throat, media world, exposing power games and privacy in the age of Photoshop.

Directors Notes

NSFW by Lucy Kirkwood is a sharp, darkly comic exploration of media culture, objectification, and the ethics of the publishing industry which, just 12 years after it was first performed could be seen as a period piece as the ‘Lads Mags’ at the centre of the story have been confined to the cultural dustbin. However, when viewed against the social media world we now live in, it is as relevant today as it was back in 2012.

Set in the cut-throat world of glossy magazines, the play unveils the morally questionable decisions and the power dynamics that shape the content consumed by readers. The title, NSFW (‘Not Safe For Work’), hints at the blurred boundaries between private and public, safe and unsafe, as characters navigate the slippery
slopes of exploitation and manipulation in pursuit of profit.

The story primarily follows Sam, an idealistic graduate, working at Doghouse, a men’s magazine run by brash and unscrupulous editor, Aidan. Sam faces an ethical quandary when Doghouse publishes a revealing photo of an underage girl, sparking a scandal that threatens his position and the magazine’s reputation. The play shifts to focus on Miranda, the fierce editor of Electra, a women’s magazine, who embodies a different but equally ruthless approach to exploiting her readership’s insecurities.

With biting wit and incisive commentary, NSFW examines the themes of objectification, gender power plays, and the commodification of bodies, questioning who benefits and who suffers in the process. It reveals how the media prey on vulnerability and drive consumerism, creating a cycle that devalues both sexes in distinct ways. In the end, NSFW challenges the audience to consider the ethical boundaries of publishing, asking whether the pursuit of profit can ever truly be reconciled with a sense of responsibility – or if the industry is simply, as the title suggests, ‘not safe for work’.
responsibility – or if