3.75°C Paul T. Davies reviews Hide My Porn, staged at the Headgate Theatre.
A Fringe Festival offers the chance for artists to explore their own experiences and to create autobiographical work that shapes their history and can speak to other people. At the Edinburgh Fringe this year, there was a bit of a backlash from some critics, complaining that the success of Baby Reindeer had led to a slew of “poor me” solo shows. Utter nonsense when compared to the humanity, warmth, and humour on show in Hide My Porn. This deeply personal show is Joseph Rawlings’s story of his battle with cancer – testicular cancer that, bizarrely, found its way to his chest. Sometimes, in the theatre, it’s a privilege to be in the audience and witness, and this is the case here.
With the use of projections, including scans of his tumour, and excellent storytelling, Rawlings tells his tale with a waspish humour. When he thought he might not survive, he wrote a letter to his best friend, outlining the steps he wanted taken, including the song played at his funeral, cremation, and no sandwiches at the wake. At the bottom of the letter, he wrote a PS – Hide my Porn – knowing it would make his friend laugh. Joseph loves to make people laugh, which is evident here, even in the darkest days of his treatment. He creates a wonderful world of characters, of the five Karens who all worked on the same ward, of consultants, and a hilarious colonoscopy, during which he made the consultant laugh so much his hand was shaking! The play also underlines that 1 in 2 will suffer cancer; we all will know someone who will experience it, making his personal story universal.
I read an excellent quote recently that said, when writing from your own life experiences, “You write from the scar, not from the wound.” And that’s exactly why this show works so well. Rawlings has taken enough steps from the experience to look at it objectively and to be brave in what he shares with us, including personal photographs and, no spoilers, the most wonderful outcome.
