This entertaining debut by Harry Mould alights on a curious historical detail. As part of its commitment to listen to everyone without judgment, the Samaritans used to keep its lines open to what it referred to as “telephone masturbators”. Between 1972 and 1987, any man who called the service asking for Brenda knew he would find a woman willing to hear out his sexual fantasies.
The policy raises so many questions – about sex, danger, exploitation, acceptance and what constitutes a cry for help – all of which Mould weaves into a sparky two-hander. It is one that recognises the absurdity of the situation without diminishing the role of a life-saving charity.
