Celebrity

Suzie J. Jarmain explores the concept of celebrity through a variety of stage and presentation techniques. The performance combines and blends a variety of styles and elements including lecture, acting, satire, monologue and poetry reading. This gives the production a very unconventional structure and Jarmain’s captivating presence delivers her musings and contemplations on the exponential growth of this phenomenon with charm and intrigue. 

Jarmain’s presence is very slick and sleek as are many of the ideas on the effect of celebrity on society and, in particular, on identity. The role of the media and its highly constructed nature is an important emphasis in this show. This is very well pointed out with the use of recorded interviews and screened performances by some of the personas she adopts. The interview by Dominic Star-Dom (Jim Daly) with one of her alter ego characters, Thatcher Christian, is a highlight of the show. Such sequences effectively reiterate many of the points Jarmain raises although the technological quality of these aspects of the show could be more refined.

The stage design is inventive with the unusual use of a red carpet and doors and staircases acting as blackboards for the lecture style elements of the show. Jarmain’s use of the space is well considered and her transitions between the different styles is very smooth and well delineated. This show is very interesting as a concept and certainly warrants further development or the inclusion of a greater variety of elements. Jarmain’s ability to capture the way individuals become smitten by narcissism is particularly insightful and one of the strengths of this very original theatrical performance.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Darren Gill