You’ve probably heard it before - that social media is rotting our brains. That social media ruins our attention spans. That social media creates narcissists in us all. Then you’ve probably heard it before about TikTok - TikTok is too much. TikTok should be banned. TikTok is where true virality happens.
Now what if someone decided to really look at all those things? To play into and investigate what it means to be a human, particularly an artist, on TikTok? And what that does to you and your understanding of the world. Enter Louise Orwin’s latest show ‘Famehungry’.
If you’ve seen any of Orwin’s previous work, then you know what to expect - liquids being thrown, audio recordings of interviews played overhead, and lots of tech and live feeds. In this 70-minute performance art piece, Orwin performs a show within a show. There is the live show happening in a theatre space. Then there is the live show happening on TikTok Live. Both are happening in real time, and it feels like there are two shows happening at once. This is the big draw of the piece, and in a way it re-enforces the question that Orwin is asking us - what does it mean to watch someone and be watched?
Ultimately, this performance piece is about many things - but all centered around the idea that in the new world of TikTok and the attention economy - what is fame? And are we just cannibalising ourselves to distract from the end of the world? To tackle these issues, Orwin utilises movement, song, eating, and her TikTok mentor - Jaxon Valentine.
Jaxon is a famous TikToker - they had 50,000 followers at the age of 15, and 5 years later their fame has only grown to over 80,000 followers. Louise is a wannabe but also not-wannabe famous TikToker - with only 5,000 or so followers. Here there is a clear relationship established between Jaxon and Louise - built off of years of knowing each other, interviews and a shared interest in TikTok. However, the relationship is skewed in a fun twist of power dynamics, as Louise (age 37) is the junior on TikTok, and her mentor is Jaxon (now 20 but was 15 when they met) is the senior on TikTok.
One criticism here is that it would have been nice to see more of their relationship play out on stage. Often times the interactions between the two felt scripted, and while it provided helpful context, I think learning more about what they got up to in the 5 years they’ve known each other would have been fascinating. Instead, it feels like Jaxon is a device to get from one point to another - a springboard for Louise to move things along.
Through the interspersed live dialogue between Louise and Jaxon, you learn more about how Louise felt first engaging with TikTok - the shock and curiosity to see people on the app making a living re-creating McDonald drive-thrus. Or a woman wearing a TV on her head and dancing around. Or a live feed of Korean women dressed in turtle costumes, dancing one by one. All of this is a world unknown to Louise, until she becomes engrossed in TikTok and learns all the ways things sell and get engagement - and she wonders if that’s okay, if that’s problematic, if that’s just a distraction, if it’s okay to judge these people, if it’s not okay to judge these people… the spiral goes on for a long time for Louise, as featured in two very lengthy monologues during the show.
But Jax is her guide. Jax keeps her on course. And ultimately, when Louise gets her goal of 20,000+ likes on her TikTok Live - it’s Jax who celebrates with her and reminds her - it’s okay to like to be watched. It’s okay to want Fame. We all get it. We’ve all been there.
This is a fast-pace and roaringly slick piece. You are constantly entertained - by what Louise is doing, what her co-stars are doing, and what her online audience on TikTok Live is doing. There is a feast for your eyes as well, particularly with the set. It’s extremely bright and colourful, in neon shades of pink and green. Hilariously, Louise mentions in the show that everything in the set was bought on TikTok shop. And not everything is used during the show, but in a way, it’s an apt parallel to the idea that not everything people buy on TikTok shop is useful or gets used. Consumerism and capitalism at it’s peak.
And with that - the show is done. The songs have been sung, the drinks have been poured, and we’re left with so many questions and so few answers. But from a performer like Orwin, this is to be expected. And in fact, it’s refreshing. It’s wonderful to see a show that is powerful, relevant and complicated. It’s even more wonderful to know that Louise’s show adds to the complicated tapestry that is TikTok. You’ll be left wanting more, and maybe reaching for your phone to open that famed app and to see who is trying to be famous and if you might dip your toes in the hopes to win big. It’s at least a fun little distraction from all the chaos in our real lives and around the world, right?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Cleímence Rebourg
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