seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Oberon Modern Plays)

Product Information

Iolanthe, who saw the show twice in Sydney, says the play’s “provocative and beautiful text” does more than empower or educate audiences, it encourages people to gather afterwards and talk. Those that do not abide by any health and safety protocols will be denied entry or removed from the facility. Cleo wants to kill Kylie Jenner. Her friend Kara just wantsCleo to chill out and stop tweeting elaborate death threats about Insta-celebrities: the title’s ‘Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner’. But for Cleo, the success of 21-year-old ‘self-made millionaire’ Jenner taps into something much deeper. Jasmine Lee-Jones’s powerfully original debut play follows these two female friends having the most blistering, agonising, meme-scattered row of their lives. Nothing’s off-limits, from primary school humiliations to the vast structural privilege that light-skinned women have.

Jasmine Lee-Jones won multiple awards for her debut play directed by Milli Bhatia including the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Most Promising Playwright Awards, and the Alfred Fagon Award. She originally developed as a writer through the Royal Court Theatre’s Young Court programme as part of their commitment to nurturing new voices. Milli Bhatia was previously Trainee Director at the Royal Court, and is now an Associate Director.Cleo and Kara have grown up with social media, and are comfortable with its abbreviations: their conversation is dotted with WTF, FFS, IDK and IRL among others. No need to spell out the sentiments: the verbal emoji’s speak for themselves.

The setting of the story is modern-day England. Half of the play takes place IRL (in real life), mostly in Cleo’s bedroom, while the other half takes place online. Effective April 19, 2022, The Public requires proof of a complete COVID-19 vaccination to enter The Delacorte and attend performances. This policy will continue until further notice.In the vacuum of the tweetstorm, Cleo’s childhood friend Kara (Iolanthe) arrives to offer support. With spoken word styling, their fast-and-sharp tweet readings are synchronised with sashaying grace, groovin’ high-definition moves and the high-octane AI thrumming of a chain of identical emojis: hahahahahahahahahaha.

Rajah Shakiry’s set consists of a tangled network of ropes, with dozens of strands hanging down on the performers – the multiple threads of social media made tangible. There are moments of visual wit, too, and Elena Peña’s intricate sound design both drives and punctuates the action. The internationally acclaimed Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner is electric, must-see theatre. Full of pop culture references and contemporary drama, it speaks to the way that social media impacts our lives. Written by British playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones and co-directed by Zindzi Okenyo and Shari Sebbens, this five-star iteration elicits roaring laughter, enthusiastic clapping, quiet gasps and a standing ovation from the captivated audience. One of the most significant elements of the play is its use of language. The play relies on modern language inspired by internet speak and includes elements such as memes and pop culture references. In particular, @INCOGNEGRO’s tweets make clever use of language and are written like poems.

Featured Local Savings

As director, other theatre includes: Chasing Hares (Young Vic); seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Riksteatern/Kulturhuset Stadsteatern/Swedish National tour); Dismantle This Room, The Hijabi Monologues (Bush); My White Best Friend (and Other Letters Left Unsaid) (Bunker); I’m Tired Of Waiting, Someone Pass Me The Duct Tape, (Stratford East).

In my search for a show trailer, I instead stumbled upon this oh-so-Hollywood report on Jasmine Lee Jones‘ play and fawning over the young reality TV star. ‘Confused by the title… and maybe a little scared’. If this decision by Harris and Enright – neither of whom is a person of colour – was meant as a call to action to increase the diversity of reviewers overall, then great, though this was a misguided way to do it. If it’s because they thought only PoC would understand this show to the level required to offer fair and unbiased criticism, it’s a highly flawed stance. Good critics – irrespective of their lived experience – put their biases to one side and identify what does and doesn’t work in a piece of art.After two successful runs at the Royal Court, the play is streaming until April 17. It’s a shame that technical bandwidth issues break the flow with occasional buffering issues; but drama rarely gets more contemporary than this.