Last night I went to the theatre with friends. This doesn't sound unusual, but since I hardly ever go out in the evening, and I dislike live theatre, this was quite an adventure for me.
I was keen as it was a rare chance to get together with girlfriends I hadn't seen for ages, without Mr. B and the girls. Quite grown-up really. I hadn't the faintest idea what the performance was about, couldn't remember the name, and didn't really care.
After a slightly awkward, live-performance-art kind of start, I was mesmerised. The show was Credible, Likeable, Superstar Role model, performed by award winning UK artist Bryony Kimmings and her (now) 11 year old niece, Taylor.
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| Bryony Kimmings and Taylor in Credible, Likeable, Superstar Role model |
The stage show was born after Bryony spent time with 9 year-old Taylor in 2012, and experienced the sorts of role models being marketed to this vulnerable tween age group. She tried to view today's world through a 9 year-old's eyes and was understandably horrified, terrified and angry. I'm sure we all remember our 9 year old selves looking up rude words in the dictionary. Don't even try to imagine what happens when you do this on an ipad. Not so funny. She quotes ongoing research into child development where for forty years children chose kindness as the most important personality trait to have as adults, and now they choose fame. Miss S told me that the sole ambition of one of the 'popular' (read disruptive and rebellious) girls at school is to be famous "like the Kardashians". That is sad.
The show is about her reaction against this and the journey to find out what 9 year-olds really want in a role model. She helped Taylor create her ultimate alterative role model for tween girls, Catherine Bennett, a pop-star paleontologist who loves eating tuna pasta and wears knee-length skirts. She's a bit weird, but she's the creation of a 9 year-old girl, and is that really any weirder than Miley Cyrus or Katy Perry? When you look at the difference between them the realisation is horrifying - what tween girls really want, and what's being marketed to them. Dear god, these are 9 - 12 year-old girls we're talking about. I was interested in horses and guinea-pigs at that age, not sex and pop-music (still am).
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| Catherine Bennett - alternative role model and pop-star paleontologist. |
I found the show inspiring and thought-provoking. The opening scenes were laugh-out-loud funny (not me - I'm the miserable theatre poo-ba), then the middle made me so angry and upset - I looked around and saw people in tears in the dark. This performance is not for children. Taylor herself wears headphones in the adults only parts. The end was uplifting - a bit of audience-participation song-and-dance stuff - I was totally into it by then, doing all the silly hand movements. I came away from this experience feeling less powerless against the exploitative nature of the world our daughters are growing up in. Apathy is unacceptable and we all have to be on our guard, but it's not impossible. I felt empowered somehow.
Bryony and Taylor are trying to make Catherine Bennett a real, famous, role model in her own right and quite separate from the stage show. Bryony thinks they're doing well, having appeared in Yoko Ono's Meltdown festival, Woman's Hour on Radio 4, and at The Southbank Centre. Taylor sees fame more from her tween perspective and is seeking 1 million hits on YouTube and an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show as a measure of true fame and success.
The Sydney Morning Herald called Credible, Likeable, Superstar Role model . . . "brilliant, provocative, humorous, angry and deeply moving theatre, born of intense love and profound worry about the world children will grow up in."
Luckily for me, my girls love Dr. Who, Taekwondo (both double black belts now) and the entire recent book genre of teenage girl assassins (think The Hunger Games and Divergent - violent, but at least the girls are in charge - refer back to double black belts). They are not the slightest bit interested in Miley Cyrus or the Kardashians. Thank god.
If you have a daughter anywhere near this age group go and see this show if you can find it, and see if we can't get Taylor her 1 million hits on YouTube.
