Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner | Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre
Through a storm of quick dialogue, abbreviations and evocative physical performance Moreblessing Maturure and Ionlanthe bring us two characters tearing their way through online and irl beef in Jasmine Lee-Jones' play 'Seven Methods for Killing Kylie Jenner'.
Cleo (Moreblessing Maturure) and Kara (Ionlanthe) spend a night bouncing between discussions of colourism, violence, queerness and the commodification of black women. They seem to disagree more than they agree, especially as the show goes on, and while the tension in their relationship increases, the online shit-storm triggered by Cleo’s anti-Kylie tirade snowballs into the worst kind of twitter backlash.
Personally, I thought Cleo was right from the beginning, the killing Kylie Jenner thing was funny and impactful, and I know that if I had seen something like that pop up on my feed I would have been defending the hell out of it.
But Kara was right as well? Whenever she got a long time to speak I found myself agreeing with her. It was kind of useless and reckless to post something so provocative on twitter and I doubted that a post could really change anything, so why cause yourself the trouble? But as soon as I thought that Cleo would start speaking again and I would agree with almost everything she was saying as well!
While my perspective was constantly shifting depending on who had the strongest voice at the time, the perspective of Cleo’s twitter feed is completely out of her control. Online she is nameless and faceless, and her timeline doesn't have the benefit of watching her hash out old traumas with her best friend or talk about her breakup. They just see her as a violent ugly black woman who wants to kill Kylie Jenner for absolutely no reason.
The heaviness of that assumption is palpable, and in finishing up an excellent monologue Cleo addresses the weight she feels directly. Kara holds her hand and tells her that she's allowed to let go of things, even though it doesn't feel like it. It was an incredibly intimate moment and it made me think about how much easier it is to heal and love when you don’t have to explain your trauma.
The seriousness of the content and themes of this work is paired with a sense of humour that is insanely witty and insanely relatable. 'Terminally online' is a phrase I have read and used to describe the fierce attachment that me and so many of my friends have to the constantly shifting landscape of internet culture. In a lot of ways I see the internet as a fun ball and chain attached to my ankle. There are so many more ways to connect, but also so many more ways to have expectations placed on you, and whether you love it or hate it, there feels like there's a kind of an inevitability to it.
7 Methods captures that feeling so well. Even when the actors devolve into the frankly stupid overuse of memes and abbreviations in their real-life speech, it still felt right to me. It felt authentic. That sense of authenticity contributed to a near constant stream of laughter from me and the rest of the audience.
My friend and I were watching the show as 2 of maybe 4 people of colour in the audience. It was kind of disappointing, because the audience felt super receptive with their applause and laughter, but I could only imagine how raucous it would have been with the seats filled with brown and black people. I was able to de-brief with my friend after the show and man was I grateful to be able to do that. I would heavily encourage everyone who can to get out to see this show and see what kind of conversations it sparks for you and your communities. My thoughts on all of the topics 7 Methods touched on could go for another two thousand words and while I could go on a long tirade and post it here on the internet, I think this time I might keep those discussions irl.
'Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner' plays at La Boite Theatre, Kelvin Grove, from 24 February to 19 March 2022.
