Everyone knows you should never respond to trolls. In Zombiegate, an engaging but didactic new play by Matthew Gabrielli, two friends forget that and dive headfirst into the backlash of an online scandal. With creepy puppets and a slide to the alt-right, this is a laboured exploration of social media as a bully’s sidekick.
Outrage ensues when Sophie (Ebony Jonelle) and Jamie (George Howard) post a selfie in zombie costumes on Halloween, not realising they’ve caught something inappropriate in the background. While Sophie apologises and faces a never-ending onslaught of abuse, Jamie fights back, rallying against snowflake culture and accidentally becoming a poster boy for free speech. Their opposing attitudes provide a springboard to explore how social media has the power to simultaneously build up and destroy a life.
In a smart comparison, Gabrielli writes the trolls as puppets. These are played by Aled Williams’ gorgeously grotesque designs, on the arms of Chand Martinez and Virginia Thompson. The storytelling behind the characters lacks some clarity, but the idea of the avatar as puppet is where the play is most inventive.
In each of Sophie and Jamie’s arguments about the right to offend, they hammer in the idea of the internet as an archive of our worst selves. But they’re treading on old ground. The script too often feels like scrolling through a debate on Twitter, initial infuriation quickly turning dull. As Jamie considers bringing a neo-Nazi on to his newly viral podcast about free speech, the extremity of his story makes their former friendship harder to believe. Why would Sophie ever have put up with him when his unashamedly vile views have been so poorly hidden?
The best parts of the play are set away from their phones and social media entirely. A touching scene where a frustrated Sophie helps her mum (played by Thompson) with a broken printer gently reveals how the abuse has seeped into her life, too. It’s in moments like these where the writing feels most accomplished, where relationships shine rather than moral debates.
At Theatre503, London, until 19 November.
