“Handle It” is about the fallout from a rape, but until the end of the play we never see the victim on stage.  Instead the story is told through the reactions of people connected to the incident – all played by Laura Jackson in a one woman showcase of virtuoso character acting.

Our only glimpse of the victim, Kelsey, is as an image projected on a screen.  Before the rape some photos of her undressing were taken.  These photos become viral, first as a meme on Facebook and finally as a feature on a porn website. With the victim too lost in herself to stop the spread of the photos or to help with the police investigation, it falls to the community around her to see that justice is done, both online and offline.

Jackson creates vivid characters, ranging from a hyper-neurotic but shrewd defence lawyer to the matey guy who hooked up with a chick and can’t believe his mates put the pics online.  She displays both comic and dramatic skill and is impressively comfortable with characters from different social classes.

While the play is interested in how information technology can violate a woman, this theme is lost as the rape itself comes to dominate the story.  Lip service is paid to the idea that the internet has done good things, but the only advocate for the internet is the silliest character, a frivolous and callous TV sexologist.

As such the play never rises above being a polemic on the dangers of the internet.  The real interest of the play is in how rape is handled by the community, and how the victim has to rebuild themselves after being violated.