It is one of the joys of theatre-going to stumble occasionally upon an excellently written, thoughtfully crafted and superbly performed production that puts a spring in the step and provides unalloyed entertainment.
Such is the case with The Work We Do, written and directed by Cerys Jones.
The show is set in a recording studio, where two actors meet for the first time to record an erotic audio story. Annie is an experienced freelance journalist and voice actor, working on her 18th sensuous voiceover job. In contrast, this is Harry’s first foray into the raunchy world of steamy radio porn.
However, there is more to Harry than meets the eye, and his revelation that he is a sex worker, providing an “escort” service to various ladies, introduces a number of different dimensions to his relationship with the shocked, but curious, Annie as they explore their different, contrasting views on real life morality issues and gender politics whilst attempting, in amusingly graphic form, to nail the fictitious audio porn job.
The two actors increasingly find, with each conversation in the breaks during the recording, that they see the world very differently. Whilst Harry is emotionally invested in his work, Annie sums up her approach as follows: “I come in, say the words, take the money and go.”
Harry is much more embroiled in his role as an escort, and the antithetical differences in their attitudes to work, sexuality and pornography, partly (but not wholly), emerging from different gender perspectives, create the platform for much of the animated conversations that ensue. Discussions which are interrupted by the need to do the day job, recording the requisite groans, pants and painfully archaic, clunky, cheesy dialogue and innuendos that drive forward the audio “plot.”
Much of the enjoyment of this production stems from the believability of the characterisations, and here we are in very safe hands indeed.
Laura Shipler Chico gives us a marvellously acidic, cynical and world-weary Annie. Sipping on honey and lemon to ensure a sufficiently husky tone, Annie’s main aim is to get the work done in the shortest possible time without actually having to think about the sex she is so volubly enacting. She mines much comedy from the juxtaposition of her erotic moaning and sighing with acerbic eyebrow raising, eye rolling, picking at the fluff on her clothing and giving the impression of wanting to be almost anywhere else. There is a humorous dichotomic aspect to her nature, as she wrestles with her natural distaste for the work that Harry does as an escort and a prurient desire to know more. A beautifully nuanced portrayal.
Harry’s character, skilfully delineated by Will Tusker, visibly grows in confidence throughout the piece, forced by Annie’s prompting, questioning and prejudices to justify his own career path, and the enjoyment he gets out of providing pleasure to others. Harry’s pauses, adroitly employed, provide a perfect foil for Annie’s increasing impatience and irritability.
Both characters are, at all times, completely authentic and convincingly argue, snipe and banter in a feisty and entertaining manner.
Shipler Chico and Tusker have immense chemistry as the ostensibly incompatible duo, whose mutual antagonism (or is it covert attraction?) provides a perfect landscape for pin-sharp observations about sex, power and age, all parcelled up with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.
The fundamental issue that suffuses The Work We Do has its origin in the potential hypocrisy of Annie’s rejection of Harry’s simplistic, almost casual view of sex and relationships.
“You think your role is to deliver orgasms to the masses like some kind of sexual saint,” Annie declares. However, the underlying question that resonates here is how different is Annie’s own actual position? Is her fulsome engagement in audio porn really that dissimilar to Harry’s actions?
Oh, and the audio porn sequences are highly amusing.
This is an excellent production, which combines humour, thoughtful dialogue and superbly observed characterisation. Highly recommended.
Review by Johnny Oxford
Annie and Harry, two voice actors, meet for the first time at a studio to record erotic audio porn. They want to keep it professional. But can two people with such different viewpoints really come together?
THE WORK WE DO
White Bear Theatre
30 September to 4 October 2025
