REVIEW: Hide My Porn, Minty Spectre, Prague Fringe 2025 ★★★★☆

We open Hide My Porn talking about the significance of letters – how in some moments they can be insignificant, and how in some they can alter lives forever. Writer-Performer Joseph Rawlings leads us on a journey that begins with a letter sent to his GP that would alter the course of his life forever – a request to be examined that leads to a diagnosis of testicular cancer… in his chest. The unusual title derived from a letter addressed to a friend with a just-in-case last wish.

Joseph is a powerful storyteller who leads us through his cancer journey with candour and poise, but also with a trademark light touch. Switching in and out of the many unique, interesting and some unusual characters that he finds along the way. Above all, he takes a moment to cherish those who supported him through that difficult time, and takes as much opportunity as he can to laugh at the moments of levity, awkwardness, and unexpected bumps in the road that inevitably come with handling a long-term illness.

Rawlings’ multifaceted character comedy adds a great sense of levity to a show that has a much deeper purpose. He plays characters who worry about finding the right words, or sometimes those who tread too carefully to come across sincere, and invites us talk more plainly, more assuredly, and with as much humanity as we can about the ‘big C word’.

The piece is sentimental but in no way overbearing – the message of the piece being that we should all take a moment to talk more freely about cancer, a disease that will affect 1 in 2 of us, and to laugh at the things that give us light in those long journeys through what can feel like absolute darkness. Rawlings places the people around him in the spotlight and takes a heartfelt approach to reflect on what’s defined his life, while also starkly discussing what would have happened if the worst had bared out, all with a refreshing, bright, and lucid storytelling style.

An expansive set draws a divide right down the middle of the stage – one half dedicated to a hospital wing used for many hysterical moments and the other to those ominous letters which dangle over Rawlings over the entire performance. The production design is cohesive and impactful, and Rawlings uses it to great effect to explore all ends of his journey.

Projection adds a slick quality to the piece that punctuates moments where Rawlings dives into the jargon and routine of chemotherapy, and moments where a voiceover which read out the letter Rawlings had written to his friend should the worst happen are contemplative and powerful.

Recommended Drink: Join in the fun hat/wig party and grab a glass of bubbly Prosecco.

You can catch Hide My Porn one more time tonight as part of Prague Fringe at 20:45 (50mins). Tickets are available through the Prague Fringe Online Box Office.