Writer and actor Panos Kandunias explores the paradox of modern connection, digital burnout and our growing struggle with intimacy, reflecting on the inspiration behind I Bought a Flip Phone.
When did you last check your phone? Do you think you’ll be able to read the whole of this piece without checking your phone? Statistics say you probably won’t. OK, I made that up. I actually have no facts to back that up, but I have my gut, which is pretty good (high fibre intake alert, plus Greek yoghurt). I was relieved every single day in Edinburgh that people managed to sit through this show for an hour without checking their phone, although maybe that was a bad thing because then I could’ve been like all those actors who go viral for telling audiences off for being on their phones.
It is getting a bit out of hand, though. The fact that you are stood at a urinal checking your phone is crazy and also disgustingly unhygienic. What inspired me to write this play, though, was firstly, the thought that I’d never actually write anything if I wasted any more time on my phone, but also the fact that it’s kind of nuts that half of UK adults report loneliness, and yet we’re all more connected than ever. I can, after a few finger taps, see what someone I went to school with, who I haven’t spoken to in ten years, is up to. I can see that a guy I went on two dates with two years ago is now married. If a friend lives in America, I can reach them in an instant, no matter where they are. Yet we’re all feeling lonely? How come?
I have volunteered for Samaritans for three years now, and in my experience, the most common reason people call is because they feel lonely. That they have no one to talk to. Or, if they do have people to talk to, they’re not close enough for them to talk about this (whatever this may be). How sad. That we’re all so connected, yet struggling hugely with intimacy.
I’m really proud of this play because people laugh a lot in it (thank god) and have fun. But my favourite responses have been when someone has said to me afterwards, “It really made me want to call my best friend/mum.” I’m not sure that getting a flip phone or chucking your phone into a water fountain, Andy Sachs-style, does solve everything. However, what might help us all out a bit to feel a bit less lonely is being a bit more intentional with using them. Instead of aimlessly looking at each other’s lives, why not ring someone up and say, “Hey, I’d love to hang out.” I think maybe then we’d all start to feel a bit less lonely.
I Bought a Flip Phone is written and performed by Panos Kandunias and presented by Peej Productions. It runs at Theatre503 from 5–7 November 2026 following a run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Tickets are available here, https://theatre503.com/whats-on/i-bought-a-flip-phone/
