Review: FAMEHUNGRY, The Place

Louise Orwin’s FAMEHUNGRY, fresh from an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, arrives at The Place as a vital exploration of the volatility of online culture, our obsession with image, and the power of taking pride in one's craft. It taps into the deep undercurrents of how we project ourselves in a world of constant visibility and performative identity.

Shows like FAMEHUNGRY are difficult to review—not because they defy criticism, but because their essence lies beyond simple observation. The real challenge is not in judging what we see before us, but in allowing it to push us further, to confront our views, bad habits, and inauthentic styles of living we may unknowingly adopt. That is where the true reflection begins, and it’s something I’ll need to grapple with once this review is written.

Orwin has given herself a tough task. In 70 minutes, her performance piece aims to successfully interrogate the fastest growing and one of the most popular social media platforms in the world; TikTok. Is it perfect? No. But her form is smart, her commentary is sharp, and she’s a joyous performer. Orwin exclaims to her live TikTok audience – yes, the whole piece is unnervingly streamed live on TikTok before us – that if her stream reaches 20,000 likes, she’ll do something amazing. 

In the next hour, she performs a series of tasks that ridicule the absurdity of online culture. However, this is where FAMEHUNGRY is special in its lesson; there’s never judgment towards artists or influencers who do garner immense success on TikTok. Orwin acknowledges their work is a performance art in its own right – they may be part of a very similar community. 

Orwin is also joined via live video by Jax Valentine, a TikToker with over 80,000 followers, who Orwin met years ago while teaching Jax a drama class. Their relationship has flipped, and Jax is now the mentor helping Louise navigate the tumultuous journey of online fame. Having Jax on stage, or screen, was fascinating but was too expository to contribute to the overarching issue of the piece.

There are times, aided by a teleprompter on the screen, when Orwin delves into explaining the problems themselves, or her psyche around the problems, of online culture – these moments disrupt the nuance and pacing of the piece. Orwin is certainly a talented enough performer for these points to be made without explaining them to us and having them projected onto a screen. At times, it felt a little bit like a crash course on the basics of social media. 

Despite some tedious moments,  Orwin is a powerhouse performer and FAMEHUNGRY has some urgent things to say. I’ve been wrestling with how I feel about FAMEHUNGRY since seeing it. However, as my theatre date said last night: theatre should make you think, it should make you laugh and it should also be a little unsettling. If this is the criteria, and I think it’s a pretty strong list, FAMEHUNGRY is undoubtedly a success.

FAMEHUNGRY is at The Place until 4 October 

Photo Credit: Cleìmence Rebourg

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