The networking of information has long allowed it to have a reach far beyond its traditional boundaries. The Internet, after all, was developed to make the sharing of information easy, not to control it, and this coupled with the pseudo-anonymity it can afford, has allowed the easy, unrestricted and often hard to attribute sharing of content, which in the past was simply not possible. Furthermore, once something has been shared, it may be impossible to maintain ownership of it. Such a system is naturally open to being abused, such abuse easily amplified by the Internet’s global audience.

Snuff Box Theatre’s Blush, written by Charlotte Josephine, takes a look at five different ways the unconstrained sharing of particularly sexual content, can be detrimental, undermining and/or abusive, to those depicted or to those it is directed towards. Directed by Ed Stambollouian, it is presented as a series of rapid, intercalated narratives, delivered expertly and with enormous energy by Josephine and Daniel Foxsmith, in this very slick and very professional production.

Blush does make some very important observations about our exposure to and exposure on the Internet, its use in sexual blaming and shaming, and the ease and rapidity people can become the unwitting victims of such things as revenge porn and Twitter abuse. However, although the five narratives clearly have common themes, the relatively short duration of the play, and the number of narratives it delivers, means that none of these can be really developed in any depth.

This is a shame, as the issues Blush highlights are far more complex than can be properly presented here. There is not enough time for any real character development, for example, and thus the play can only scratch the surface of what motivates the various people involved, to do what they do. Instead, it relies too heavily on stock characters, such as the unhappily married man, or the lonely woman, or the successful egotist, to make its point.

That said, although Blush produces more questions than it answers (is yoga really the answer to everything? Actually—yes!), it importantly raises awareness of what it addresses in an engaging and approachable (and often witty) manner. It is certainly a polished piece of theatre, with the very best of intentions.