For our first show on Friday – and it’s actually on in a respectable morning slot – it’s the alarmingly entitled NSFW at Upper Thrust @ theSpace on Niddry St at 11:25 on Friday 25th. This is how the blurb describes it: “’The articles are shit. No offence, Charlotte. But no one buys our publication principally for the literature. I think it’s important to recognise that.’ Lad’s mag Doghouse is in trouble: after a topless image of an underage girl is featured, her furious father threatens to bring down the magazine. Fired from Doghouse for making this mistake, Sam interviews for a job at women’s fashion weekly Electra but quickly discovers unsettling parallels between the two, forcing him to choose between compromising his values and yet another unpaid internship he cannot afford. Not I Theatre present a dark satire on media.”

Lucy Kirkwood’s play first hit the stage in 2012, so I’m presuming it’s well tried and tested – in fact, I’ve just seen some reviews of the original production and it sounds extremely good. The performers are Alexander Lopez, Joe Callanan, Laura Pieters, Matt Aldridge, Chris Alldridge and Grace Arnold. Check back around 1 pm to see if we enjoyed it. By then the next preview blog should be available to read too.

A really clever, sharply written play, beautifully performed throughout, which makes you think about magazine journalism, and not in a positive way. I particularly liked how the woman working for the men’s magazine had to abase herself to survive, and then the man in the woman’s magazine is confronted with the same issues. Very funny too. A great way to start your fringe day!