**** 4 STARS ****
In our world, we have become obsessed. Obsessed with the concept of being watched and the ability to watch others. With the ever rising presence of platforms like TikTok, this world is being consumed by a battle of doom scrolling, trend setting and gaining the most followers to be famous in the social world. Louise Orwin’s Famehungry explores the relationship between live performance and virtual streams, looking at whether live performance has a future without the use of technology.
The style and form of Orwin’s show, with her interdisciplinary connections and associations with her junior TikTok mentor, raises the social critique of how performance art and theatre cannot completely fund an artist’s life. In a world where theatre is seen as an elitist form and contemporary theatre and performance art is not receiving the acclaim or funding that it deserves, artists need to fulfill multiple roles and jobs in order to survive day-to-day living. Orwin appeases each audience by providing something tailored to them: the TikTok audience sees a series of tasks and trends, complying to the demands and rules of the platform as to not be blocked, whilst the live audience experiences the energy, commentary and live music performance of the piece as well as hanging onto the suspense of whether the performer will reach 20k likes before she does something AMAZING.
Orwin’s live performance helps to emphasise and enforce this critique with a combination of varying vocal tones, including the infamous ‘baby voice’ which is an attribute of many famous TikTok stars, and the completion of many physicalised task based performances. These skills work well in conjunction with the aesthetic pink design of the set. The large pink teddy bear, pink rug and pink milkshake mix well with the sharp pink lighting design in elements of the piece. This show certainly certainly leaves its audience craving more.
Famehungry is not only a critique of social expectations and confinements, but an intricately choreographed piece of performance art. Whilst live streams are brilliant for those who may struggle to access some spaces, the true magic will forever lie in the energy and combined excitement of a live theatre art audience. Orwin is an activist in a great form and she certainly has the potential to break the main stages of forward thinking performance spaces.
To see more from Louise Orwin, follow her on Instagram.
Harley Keasey 
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