The Nether

I try not to read reviews before going to see a play or movie. When The Nether started to unfold at the Duke of York theatre, I was petrified. Had I not even read the play's summary when booking the tickets? But I had, and it's not giving away much:

"Following a sold-out run at the Royal Court Theatre, Jennifer Haley’s critically-acclaimed, multi-award-winning play transfers to London’s Duke of York’s Theatre for a limited 12-week run.

The Nether offers complete freedom – a new virtual wonderland providing total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire.

An intricate crime drama and a haunting thriller set in the year 2050, The Nether follows an investigation into the complicated, disturbing morality of identity in the digital world, and explores the consequences of making dreams a reality."

The play deals with pedophilia. It's thought-provoking. Video games in which people kill each other are pretty common and there are of course on-going debates of whether these video games are contributing to increasing violence in the real world. How does it make us feel to imagine a virtual world where adults have sex with children and murder those children. When the children aren't children (in the real world) but adults who choose to take on the role of a child. 

I have to admit that I feel uncomfortable even writing about it.