"This is for anyone with a smart phone, feeling a little bit less than." Charli Burrowes on her debut play 'Bloom Girl'
Charli Burrowes is a Meanjin-based artist, director and writer who is best known for her platform MeOhMy. This site started as a blog, documenting her creative journey, which has since evolved into a place where she shares her short films and art.
In her 10 year career she’s forged who own unique creative path, which has included several solo gallery shows, and directed shoots for Universal Music, HBO, Disney and Warner Bros. In recent years she’s taken to exploring the negative impact of Social Media on art, nothing that it is “a graveyard for originality, creativity, and authenticity”.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Charli launches her first stage show, ‘Bloom Girl’ in 2023, loosely based on her creative career and explorations of the impact of social media. The eighty minute one-woman show follows the protagonist ‘Bloom Girl’ as she navigates the good, bad and downright ugly of living a life online and sets out challenges what it means to be liked, loved, or just real in the social media age.
We chatted to Charli this week to learn all about the and why you should check out ‘Bloom Girl’ when it launches at the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End.
Tell us about your show in 100 words or less.
Bloom Girl is an artist + blogger, chasing real connection in a digital age. Far beyond filters, snaps at IT-girl spots in on-trend brands + being tagged with the #rightpeople, Bloom Girl isn’t just polishing up her profile, she’s re-writing her entire life online. Every night, she treats the internet like a stage to perform on, blurring the boundaries between performative behaviour + performance as she shares fantastic new stories loosely inspired by her life.
When Bloom Girl meets @TheBoy, a wickedly endearing semi-famous muso who makes her question the line between bullshit and bravery, she turns her world upside down to compete with every other influencer out to win her new connection's affection, and in the process, finds out what it really takes to be seen right now.
Why did you choose this theme and format for your show?
After 10 years telling stories online, I wanted to share my most special one with people in real life. I believe in the power of community and I think art is at its best when it's a shared experience. I think this show should be felt IRL.
You could also say it’s a protest against the superficiality of what social media has become and the people who pander to it. Social media used to be a place where artists could freely share their work, but what was once a digital wonderland is now a bottomless content pit designed to keep the algorithm well fed.
What can audiences expect from your show?
Heartbreak, hell, a good laugh + a lot of hot pink (very cheeky) neon lights.
It’s a story about wanting to be loved (and 'liked'). With a few heartbreaks in my back pocket, I have combined my experiences of the digital dating scene to turn them into something a little fun, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Who is your perfect audience member? Who is going to LOVE this event?
This is for anyone with a smart phone, feeling a little bit less than.
It’s probably not the play you would take your nanna to see, but fun drunk aunties, definitely!
Is there anything else we simply MUST know about the show?
It’s more than just a show! It’s an exhibition too, with a fantastic heart, plenty of art + femininity. It’s something real. And it’s better off the internet.
‘Bloom Girl’ plays at the Thomas Dixon Centre, West End from 3-11 February 2023.
