Tickets from $35
03-13 September | 1 hour
PACT Centre for Emerging Artists
SHOW IS RATED: R
5 STARS
I Watched Someone Die on TikTok: Frighteningly relatable and deeply chaotic. This is one to catch before it sells out!
Back in the day, if you wanted to watch something shocking, you had to actively search for it, but not anymore. You could be mindlessly scrolling TikTok when suddenly there’s a skeletal child being burned alive in Gaza on your screen. Gone are the days of using the internet to ask ‘ASL?’ on MSN to some complete random on the family computer while mum’s not looking, or posting status updates in third person.
Social media apps now go as far as collecting your biometric data. Interpreting and monitoring your level of attention, level of engagement and even emotional state – it tracks your emotions to sell you targeted ads. It’s not just our email address and passwords we’re giving them by signing up, these technologies undermine our individual agency and violate basic privacy rights. So why don’t we disconnect and delete the apps?
The One-Woman Show Lives on at the Fringe
Presented at PACT Theatre for Emerging Artists and developed with the support of Brand X’s Flying Nun program, I Watched Someone Die on TikTok is actor/writer/singer/comedian Charlotte Otton’s latest one woman show that she describes as “a live, doom scroll solo that combines raw data, raw emotions and raw comedy.”
The work opens to a bare, blacked out stage which has a large screen at the back with two phone screens projected on the backdrop. They are showing TikTok doom scrolls which quickly flick from deeply unsettling, to hilarious, to nostalgic, to unhinged video snippets. Otton enters the stage wearing black pants and a white shirt which has an ‘Ignore’ button on the back, while serenading us with a sultry rendition of Disney’s ‘A Whole New World’ (singing both Aladdin and Jasmine’s roles, obviously). What unfolds is a dark comedy of deeply funny, eye-opening and very poignant content which stays with you long after you leave.
Much like how TikTok operates, she flicks from segment to segment at an alarmingly fast pace with no segue. There’s a doctor Google segment, a confessional segment, a ‘this or that’ segment and a disturbing TikTok challenges segment as well as a scene that’s filmed on her phone, projecting live on the screen at the back of the stage. This live-projected scene brilliantly demonstrates the depth of intimacy and vulnerability that our phone screens see, to an extent that I’d not ever considered before. Between snort laughing, then holding my breath in anticipation, to disgusted, horrified then excited, the writing takes us on a concise, extreme and deeply relatable journey. From early 90’s creepy animations, to 2000s dark web crazes, to meme culture and trending reels, the writing follows the internet’s evolution and how it’s shaped our lives today.
Written in first person, Otton’s charismatic, humourous commentary quickly connects her with everyone in the room before delving into a vulnerable and powerful reflection. She masterfully switches between genres and skillsets with clarity and ease and is consistently magnetic to watch – even during deeply uncomfortable and confronting moments, I can’t look away. With nothing but a bubble gun, wig and cowboy hat, her phone and a ring light, she captures and maintains our ever-shrinking attention spans from start to finish.
Is I Watched Someone Die on Tik Tok worth seeing at the Sydney Fringe Festival?
I was lucky enough to see her first solo show Feminah, and have followed her career since – so knew to expect a disarmingly-hilarious, unhinged and intelligent interrogation of something I could probably relate deeply to. I Watched Someone Die on TikTok is exactly that. While the subject matter is quite doom and gloom, the depth of the themes are balanced by her impeccable comedic delivery and the refreshingly honest lens through which she sees the world. The work (while expertly demonstrating her multidisciplinary artistry) is not deeply theatre coded and is accessible to anyone whose introduction to porn was on the family computer’s dial up internet or can relate to feeling like their phone is listening to them.
There are only 6 more chances after tonight to see it and opening night was sold out – so get yourself a ticket to I Watched Someone Die on TikTok before she blows up.
Tickets and Details for I Watched Someone Die on Tik Tok at the Sydney Fringe Festival
Tickets: https://sydneyfringe.com/events/i-watched-someone-die-on-tiktok/
Thursday September 4 at 8pm
Friday September 5 at 8pm
Saturday September 5 at 3:30 & 8pm
Wednesday September 10 at 6:30pm
Thursday September 11 at 6:30pm
Friday September 12 at 6:30pm
Saturday September 13 at 2 and 6:30pm
