A helter-skelter nosedive into the TikTok universe and a grudge match with the attention economy.
Edinburgh Fringe smash hit about the future of live art, the attention economy and online micro-celebrity embarks on UK and International tour this Autumn. Unlike anything you’ll have seen before, FAMEHUNGRY takes place simultaneously in a theatre and on TikTok Live, where it’s watched by thousands of strangers on the internet – but only if it escapes the TikTok censors. Orwin has been suspended from her own account mid-show many times for “adult sexual content”, of which there is none. TikTok were supposedly the ‘Official Virtual Stage’ of The Fringe – go figure.
A clarion call for creators, performers and audiences alike, FAMEHUNGRY sees acclaimed artist Louise Orwin questioning the future of live art, investigating the dark arts of the attention economy and contemplating a future as – whisper it – a content creator.
Fresh from an award-winning, critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe FAMEHUNGRY begins a UK and international tour this autumn, with performances in Chichester, London, Leicester, Preston, Nottingham, Norwich, Exeter, ARKEN Festival in Denmark, and Soho Playhouse New York. More dates to come.
Flipping the script on the mentor/mentee relationship, acclaimed UK performance artist Louise Orwin has enlisted Gen Z TikToker Jax Valentine (21yo, queer, 80k followers) to guide her (37yo, queer, 5k followers) through a brave new world of dance trends, 24 hour live-streaming, enforced face filters and endless monetizable content. The aim? To answer a very personal question: how can performance art compete in the digital age?
Performed simultaneously for an in-person theatre audience and online, Orwin plays a game with a TikTok Live audience, challenging them to get her to 20,000 likes while mentor Jax beams in live from their bedroom in Sheffield via the power of the internet. Meanwhile, the theatre audience become voyeurs to a seemingly endless reality-blurring piece that asks what we’re willing to consume as entertainment - and why we’re so desperate to be watched as individuals.
A bold hybrid of online and IRL experiences - and with a few surprises along the way - this is a vital show that taps into an existential question about the live arts and the future of performance: in a crumbling arts economy and a growing digital monoculture, where do we turn to find hope?
In a world in which all roads lead to TikTok, FAMEHUNGRY asks how social media is changing us and the art we make, what young people think about the future, and what it feels like to be hungry for fame in the face of a world on fire.
FAMEHUNGRY: 03 & 04 October 2024
The Place, 17 Duke's Road, London, WC1H 9PY
Further Information: FAMEHUNGRY | The Place