Bonnie Blue Inspires Sexy and Controversial One-Woman Play

Your body, your choice. But what if you’re choosing to objectify yourself for the male gaze and a paycheck, with a dollop of notoriety? “Body Count” writer and actor Issy Knowles explores whether it’s ever truly possible to separate emotion from sex.

Inspired by current content creators who’ve turned sex work into a competitive sport, Pollie (Knowles), an OnlyFans star, is determined to catapult herself to stratospheric fame by sleeping with 1,000 of her subscribers on her trip to New York City. “Body Count” tracks Pollie’s journey into OnlyFans exploitation and vilification, from her confusing Catholic upbringing to her failed consulting career to her first taste of fast cash.

Through an empathetic and inquisitive lens, Knowles strips away fantasy to reveal the person behind the tabloid-worthy behavior.

After a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this dark comedy, directed by Alice Wordsworth, is part of Soho Playhouse’s 2026 International Fringe Encore Series. A Sit-Up Award winner and Popcorn Award nominee, this show has also garnered multiple five-star reviews.

Straus Media caught up with Issy Knowles to talk about her ripped-from-the-headlines story inspiration, feminism, and spending 55 minutes on stage in lingerie.

So, you read about Bonnie Blue and decided to write a play?

[Tia Billinger, aka Bonnie Blue, had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours on 12 January, 2025, and soon other OnlyFans women were pushing to top her “body count.”]

I read about all of the OnlyFans stars that have partaken in this kind of phenomenon. All the comments were hate-filled and misogynistic, saying things like, “This is where female liberation, sexual liberation, porn has led us, etc.”

Some comments weren’t adding to the witch hunt but lacked nuance. It was fertile ground for me as a writer.

As a feminist, a woman should be able to do whatever she wants with her body.

But if we look at it from a social standpoint, it is destructive to do events like this. [OnlyFans-type] stars have spoken about feeling unsafe and worrying about being attacked. It breaks my heart that that is their current reality.

What was your process?

I had a very small window in which to be inspired and produce this play.

It was time to turn the spotlight on the men and the fact that it takes one woman to create this event, but a thousand men to partake in it.

[Creating this work] ended with me knowing myself better and understanding myself better and realizing I really relate to the women who host these events, because I know how pleasing men is at the top of many women’s agenda.

I think when women leave the show, they have that universal feeling of, “Yeah, I’ve had pleasing men hardwired into my DNA, too.”

What’s it like to spend an hour on stage scantily clad?

It’s difficult.

The first time I put on the prosthetic body pieces, I was surprised at how they made me feel. I would probably only feel 10% to 15% more exposed and vulnerable if I were actually naked on stage.

At the Edinburgh Fringe, when I would come on stage, the audience would instantly sit back with true fear in their face at being confronted with an almost naked woman.

The body pieces are a brilliant metaphor for what is being discussed, which is the commodification of women’s body parts. The plastic cartoonishness of them speaks to how a lot of female bodies are treated as objects.

Is this female liberation or just porn?

Can porn ever be liberating if it’s created for men to consume?

Porn is, unfortunately, an inevitable part of survival for a lot of women. This debate around its existence wastes our time and our breath. Porn exists, and that’s it, and 100% we need to safeguard it better; we need to safeguard our children better to stop them from consuming it, but it will always exist.

As a woman, it is exhausting to be told that everything you do has to be feminist. It’s not something that is ever put on a man.

Men aren’t under pressure to always make sure that their every move is benefiting the masses and benefiting all men.

We can put that pressure on women. I don’t think that’s fair.

Are these OnlyFans models setting feminism back?

The question needs to change to “Why do so many women feel that OnlyFans is the only way to gain financial power and wealth within their lifetimes?”

As a society, we love to ignore the bigger picture. The fact that OnlyFans is booming and so many women are on it speaks to the fact that there is still a glass ceiling.

The outrage with OnlyFans isn’t the fact that porn is being created; it’s that now women are directly funneling money into their own bank accounts from men. That’s the outrage. Men cannot stop using OnlyFans, which means women cannot stop gaining financial wealth, control, and power.

What do you say to the shamers?

I say that shame thrives in secrecy and silence.

I don’t think any societal problem has ever been improved by people not talking about it.

My biggest ambition in writing this play was to have more nuanced conversations around the subject matter. I just want people to leave and to talk about this phenomenon and about the men.

There’s no place for shame when you’re trying to speak truth to power.

“Body Count” is at the Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam St., until March 29. The show contains sexual content - adults 18+ only.

For more info, visit https://www.sohoplayhouse.com/see-a-show/body-count

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novel “The Last Single Woman In New York City.”