British playwright James Fritz’s 4 Minutes, 12 Seconds may be more than a decade old, but it’s lost none of its sting – as the gasps on opening night made clear. This humour-spiked drama about a family grappling with the fallout from a leaked homemade pornographic video still lands with unsettling force.

Jack, 17, a promising student at a private school, has been bashed by his girlfriend Cara’s brother. It’s left him with little more than a bloody nose and wounded pride, but Jack’s mother Di (Emma Dalton) is furious. His dad, David (James Smithers), shrugs it off. Boys will be boys, after all.

James Smithers and Emma Dalton in 4 Minutes, 12 Seconds. Photo © Phil Erbacher

But Di’s protective instincts have been irrevocably stirred. The apple of her eye is about to sit exams that could set him on the path to a glittering career. She’s all for calling the police and pressing charges.

At first, Di is fixated on discovering who uploaded the video. What are their motives? Soon, however, her focus shifts to the disturbing behaviour the footage...