REVIEW: BLINK @ KING'S HEAD THEATRE

🎭 Blink

📍 King's Head Theatre, 116P Upper Street, London, N1 1QP

🗓 Monday 23rd February 2026

⭐️ 5 Stars

BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS A MASTERPIECE

Sometimes you walk into a theatre expecting a quirky little indie rom-com and walk out feeling like your heart has been through a gentle, yet persistent, blender. That's exactly what Phil Porter's BLINK does at the King's Head Theatre. It's a delicate, voyeuristic, and deeply moving two-hander that feels like a warm hug and a cold shiver all at once.

We meet Jonah and Sophie - two "socially shy" souls in Leytonstone who find a connection that is as beautiful as it is bizarre. After the death of Sophie's father and a move to London for Jonah, the two become entangled through a baby monitor. It's a story about being seen without actually being looked at, exploring grief, loneliness, and the terrifying vulnerability of letting someone into your private world.

The weight of this show rests entirely on the shoulders of Abigail Thorn and Joe Pitts, and honestly, they carry it effortlessly. Thorn is a revelation as Sophie, bringing a grounded, sharp-witted complexity to the role, while Pitts captures that wide-eyed, nervous energy of someone trying to navigate a world that feels too big. They navigate the intensity of Porter's script - which is punchy, poetic, and incredibly fast-paced - with a precision that is just high-calibre theatre at its very best.

Simon Paris's direction uses the 220-seat auditorium so effectively, making the space feel both cavernous in its loneliness, and suffocatingly intimate when they are "together".

The sound design by Sam Glossop is a standout too. I loved the way the gentle music added such a poignant layer to the drama. However it was the power of the silence that really got me. The quiet moments where you could hear a pin drop but feel the electricity.

Though BLINK premiered over a decade ago, it feels scarily more relevant today. In an age of live-streaming, video doorbells, and online surveillance, the play hits a modern nerve. It asks the question: Is it enough to just be watched, or do we need to be known?

The use of direct address is brilliant. It shatters the fourth wall and makes us co-conspirators in their strange little game. My only regret is that I wasn't sat in the front row. The way Thorn and Pitts lock eyes with the audience is so disarming, and I found myself craving that direct eye contact to be drawn in even more. It kept me on the edge of my seat right until the very end, absolutely desperate to see how their story would unfold.

It's ironic that the play is called BLINK, because that's something you definitely won't want to do when you're watching it. That's because you won't want to miss even one second of this masterpiece.

This is a masterclass in intimate storytelling. It's weird, it's wonderful, and it's a bit of a tear-jerker. If you want to see two of the most exciting actors on the London stage right now in a play that will haunt your thoughts for days, get yourself to the King's Head Thesatre.

BLINK plays until Sunday 22nd March. Click here for tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Blink was gifted by King's Head Theatre who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Abigail Thorn as Sophie; Joe Pitts as Jonah

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 20 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Strong language; Themes of grief and loss; Some mention of suicide

AGE GUIDANCE:

14+

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