Banging Denmark, currently playing at the Finborough Theatre, takes a while to get started. The lights are still up, but two actors have settled on stage, one typing in his living room, another curled in a duvet by an office photocopier.
They are one ‘Guy De Whit’, who claims on his creepy and misogynistic podcasts to be a pussy magnet broadcasting from his yacht, and Ishtar Madigan, academic and feminist brought low by a costly court defamation case brought by De Whit.
There are other characters – Ishtar (Rebecca Blackstone) has a faithful best pal, Denyse (Jodie Tyack), who in turn has a male pal she’s firmly friend-zoned, Toby (James Jip).
And for De Whit (Tom Kay), who turns out to be a lonely, and on the surface, obnoxious man called Jake, the local librarian Danish Anne (Maja Simonsen), has the type of exotic vibes that stir him down below.
Blankly funny, often crude, and sometimes preposterous, Banging Denmark shines a light on incel culture and how women can be reduced to just “a warm hole” for a man to get into.
Financial and sexual transactions, casual insults and crippling loneliness all thread through this play, whether in Ishtar’s shrugging off any male approaches, Denyse regretting a morning after, or Anne’s icy politeness.
Van Badham offers an in-joke for the librarians among us, which I appreciated, and her script is initially, and deceptively, shallow, only opening up after one character literally sings in the street.
Set designers Katy Mo and Leah Kelly have created two detailed rooms and spaces for the main characters, but the walls do not contain them. In the middle of the stage is Anne’s desk, where she lovingly brushes the pages of valuable books.
Banging Denmark is a play that tackles difficult topics with a feather touch before moving in for the punch. Well paced, the production ensures everyone has their moment, even f their motivation isn’t always clear.
And when the laptop is closed, the last Pot Noodle boiled, and confidences exchanged, there may be hope in how these men and women see each other.
Running 100 minutes without a break, this tense and terse drama needs its moments of relaxation and humour. Director Sally Woodcock ensures there is never a dull moment, even if they don’t always ring true, and leaves you thinking beyond the fun as you depart.
Banging Denmark continues at Finborough Theatre until 11 May with tickets here.
***.5
Image credit: Ali Wright