EDINBURGH 2026 Review: 15 MINUTES OF SHAME, Zoo Playground
Runs until 31 August.
OnlyFans, the popular subscription service, is known for its loose content limitations, and therefore perfect to host pornography. It has it all, from foot enthusiasts to more deviant predilections, and many creators make a living out of it. 15 Minutes of Shame sees a young couple struggling under the increasing economic pressures of contemporary London. Their rent is overdue, and they’re being taken advantage of with their zero-hour contracts. It would be so easy to open an account and sell a few photos.
The piece holds so much potential. Monetising intimacy because you’re barely surviving on minimum wage could be such an intriguing springboard to analyse a broad variety of moral questions—it’s not the case here. There’s something very GCSE Drama about this production. Sean Stillmaker writes a creaky script with many illogical sides to it. He over-explains the unfairness of our capitalist society and tries to cover too much ground.
The play is underdeveloped in some places (like the actual timeline of the events, but also their consequences) and ridiculously rushed in others (we’re meant to go along with one too many unaddressed plot points). A look at financial illiteracy can coexist next to an examination of obsession, fame, and vanity, but these have to be looked at individually as well as in relation to one another at the same time. It’s not enough to just mention the themes; we need to address them.
Adébayo Bolaji directs Ellen Pallant and Anton Bibby in rocky performances. His vision muddles Stillmaker’s further. The direct explanations and the emotional externalisations of the scripted asides simplify the text in principle by betraying an abhorrent lack of trust in the audience. The mise en scène materialises them into monologued digressions, while an aimless movement direction feebly attempts to establish a visual language. It’s a noble undertaking, but the idea remains just out of reach of everyone’s best efforts. At this stage, the project is simply not convincing enough.
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