Revenge Porn
Reviewed by Julia Lloyd George
Ammunition Theatre Company
Through Oct. 9
RECOMMENDED
Revenge Porn doesn’t skirt around its delicate subject — its title a bold, confident and, frankly, punk declaration of what the cast is about to unpack for you. The alternative title, The Story of a Body, is gentler and more emotional, but certainly no less true to the empathetic spirit of this magnificent play written by Carla Ching and directed by Bernardo Cubría. It’s about the tremendous pain of public violation and the desire for revenge, to be sure. However, it’s also about the difficulty of realizing that someone you once loved is capable of incredible harm, and the complicated feelings that come with that knowledge. Most importantly, it’s about taking back ownership of your life story and your body after both have been cruelly stolen from you —victimhood is never the endpoint for these characters.
It all starts, as you might have guessed, with a shocking leak of naked photos. The victim? Our plucky heroine, Kat (Tina Huang), an LA-based theater director in the throes of setting up a graduation party for her daughter, Nice (Kahyun Kim). Before Nice can even graduate, though, Kat’s younger boyfriend, Elliot (Christopher Larkin), reveals to her that her nudes have been suddenly splashed across social media. The perpetrator? At first, it’s not entirely clear. Still, the photos are personal, intimate, taken on beach vacations. All of Kat’s close family and friends are tagged; it’s someone close to home.
We see the realization of who it is slowly creep up on Kat, but the truth is painful enough that she’s evidently in denial. Once she finally shares with Elliot and Nice that the leaker is Mac (Nelson Lee), her ex-husband and Nice’s father, they are adamant that she calls him out for what he’s done. This is the father of her child and someone she was in a relationship with for 22 years, though, so it’s not so simple for her. The gradual fallout of a decision to do nothing, however, would make everything worse for her and those closest to her.
Nice is perhaps the most affected, forced to be the reluctant intermediary between parents caught on either side of a widely publicized internet sex crime. A budding photographer just beginning to make her way in the world, she’s now in the unenviable position of trying to convince her father to take down nudes of her mother. It’s an experience that obviously changes her perspective both on her parents —Lee cleverly portrays Mac as a sleazy, careless person indifferent to the collateral damage of his actions as he wallows in his heartbreak — and her own body as she tentatively begins a romantic relationship with a friend-turned-boyfriend, JJ (Roland Ruiz). The scenes between her and JJ are incredibly endearing, whether they’re hilariously riveted by the dramatic beats of a nature documentary or showing each other the beauty of their physical imperfections. Kahyun Kim is a gifted and magnetic actor, bringing levity to every scene she’s in.
Sweet and supportive Elliot, sensitively played by Larkin, is pulled into the maelstrom of the drama when Mac chooses to leak a video of him, as well. This is what finally drives Kat off the edge and makes her publicly name Mac, bringing the cancel culture mob down on his head. Mac’s journalist mother, Mia, whom Jeanne Sakata fabulously embodies in addition to the very different, comic role of Kat’s mother, Betty, pitches to Kat that they collaborate on an essay about the situation. Mia wants her son to take full responsibility for what he’s done, but Kat is more sympathetic to him and wants to interview him about his reasoning. Although this confrontation effectively humanizes Mac in his own post-cancellation suffering, Kat does appear to let him off the hook a little more than he deserves.
The most moving part of the play is actually when Kat insists on wresting control of her narrative by having Nice take nude photos of her to publish along with the essay. The scene is an exquisite distillation of empowered consent, as Kat bravely reveals “the story of her body” on her own terms and through her daughter’s eyes. The dance of emotions across Huang’s face in these moments is marvelous to watch—here is a beautiful woman refusing the shame that both society and her ex seem to want her to feel, insisting on her worth above all else.
Ammunition Theatre Company, The Pico, 10508 W Pico Blvd; Thurs-Fri., 8pm; Sat., 2pm & 8pm; Sun., 7pm; thru Oct. 9; https://www.ammunitiontheatre.com/revenge-porn; running time: 2 hours with a 10-minute intermission.
