[2015155] #nofilter
Beans and Such & South Australian Youth Arts Theatre Company @ Holden Street Theatres – The Studio
6:00pm, Fri 13 Mar 2015
Out of the (unfortunate) ashes of Urban Myth came SAYarts; #nofilter‘s development began with the former company with the instruction that they create a show about selfies. What eventuated was a series of mostly comedic sketches that poke fun at the current obsession with selfies and their manipulation, while deconstructing their prevalence.
It’s a young cast, and the dialogue they enter is undoubtedly targeted at a young audience… but it’s interesting to see their take on the need for (and perceived importance of) self expression, if only because these kids are growing up in an era where selfies are a thing… to me, they feel like a narcissistic abuse of the technology which facilitates their spread.
Claire Glenn’s direction keeps a pretty tight reign on these sketches, with few of them outstaying their welcome… however, it was always going to be nigh-on impossible to avoid the overuse of the word “selfie” – I had one of those experiences where the word became almost laughably meaningless, a feeling which almost recurred whilst I was writing this. The performances were all confident and assured, delivered with just enough airiness to suit the light-hearted nature of the content.
Look – #nofilter was hardly the greatest bit of theatre going around… but, though it was targeted at an audience thirty years my junior, the intent was earnest and the dialogue rang true. A tidy little production by a team that showed enthusiasm and promise.
(155) #nofilter: Light-hearted look at the narcissism of selfies. Decent young cast. Selfies selfies selfies. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 13, 2015