When an unhappy estate agent sells a house to Alice, a charismatic social media influencer, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. But as her obsession with Alice's seemingly perfect world intensifies, the lines between online and reality become dangerously blurred.
A thrilling, twisted and razor-sharp comedy on the corrosive effects of social media and isolation, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's play Harm premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in May 2021.
'An edgy psychological drama... shines a light on aspects of what is becoming an increasingly virtual society, especially for those in their 20s and 30s, obsessed with image and success beyond the point of reason'
— British Theatre Guide
'Phoebe Eclair-Powell's razor-sharp monologue about social media toxicity and trolling... Tense, heady and full of savage laughter, it is intoxicating from beginning to end. Eclair-Powell's script glints and her barbed wit stings... Harm might be small in scale but it is magnificent in effect'
— Guardian
'A devastatingly acute picture both of the loneliness of the narrator's existence – "Sometimes I don't brush my teeth before bed" – and of the glossiness of an online world where events such as cooking, or home decorating, aren't activities but opportunities to create content for an avid group of followers'
— Whatsonstage
'This cracking new piece by rising talent Phoebe Eclair-Powell [is] just as effective at summoning entire worlds as any epic musical or drama'
— Telegraph
'An arresting, soul-searching monologue'
— The Times
'Eclair-Powell tells this terrifying tale with a beautiful blend of sharp observation and knowing humour... wonderfully original in its quirkiness... a smart and sassy study of loneliness and obsession'
— Arts Desk
About the Author :
Phoebe Eclair-Powell is a writer from South East London.
Her plays include: Shed: Exploded View (Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2024); Dorian, adapted with Owen Horsley from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (Reading Rep Theatre, 2021); Harm (Bush Theatre, 2021); Epic Love and Pop Songs (Pleasance, Edinburgh, 2016); Fury (Soho Theatre, 2016); WINK (Theatre503, 2015); One Under (Pleasance Below); Mrs Spine (OUTLINES at the Old Red Lion); Bangin' Wolves (Courting Drama at the Bush Upstairs, published by Playdead Press, later with Poleroid Theatre for Wilderness Festival); two rapid write response pieces, Coal Eaters and Glass Hands (Theatre503); The Box (Theatre Delicatessen SPACED festival and Latitude Festival); Elephant and My Castle (SALT Theatre at Southwark Playhouse); CARE (Miniaturists at the Arcola).
She was the overall winner of the 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, for her play Shed: Exploded View. Fury was a finalist for the 2015 Verity Bargate Award, and the winner of the Soho Theatre Young Writers' Award.
Review :
'An edgy psychological drama... shines a light on aspects of what is becoming an increasingly virtual society, especially for those in their 20s and 30s, obsessed with image and success beyond the point of reason'
'Phoebe Eclair-Powell's razor-sharp monologue about social media toxicity and trolling... Tense, heady and full of savage laughter, it is intoxicating from beginning to end. Eclair-Powell's script glints and her barbed wit stings... Harm might be small in scale but it is magnificent in effect'
'A devastatingly acute picture both of the loneliness of the narrator's existence – "Sometimes I don't brush my teeth before bed" – and of the glossiness of an online world where events such as cooking, or home decorating, aren't activities but opportunities to create content for an avid group of followers'
'This cracking new piece by rising talent Phoebe Eclair-Powell [is] just as effective at summoning entire worlds as any epic musical or drama'
'An arresting, soul-searching monologue'
'Eclair-Powell tells this terrifying tale with a beautiful blend of sharp observation and knowing humour... wonderfully original in its quirkiness... a smart and sassy study of loneliness and obsession'
