Fame Whore ★★★ King's Head Theatre | Oct 5 - 29, 2022


Becky Biro is determined to be on The Drag Factor and she is prepared to go to almost any lengths to reach her goal. When told that she must increase her recognition to make the grade, she devises a series of hilarious strategies to develop her social media profile. Becky is a very engaging character, and her rivalry with her friend, Cindy, has amusing echoes of All About Eve. Her self-justifying self-descriptions are delightfully transparent, and it looks like the genre we are dealing with is a good old camp spoof of trends, self-obsession and cult icons. There are some terrific song parodies and the show's use of video projections are good fun. Gigi Zahir, aka Crayola The Queen, is great as Becky and all the other characters in the show, with a single, but important, exception. Even when the wig comes off, we are still dealing with Becky Biro. We are told about the individual who creates Becky, but we never really see them. This failure to fully individuate that person behind the drag makes the darker and more serious side of Tom Ratcliffe's dark comedy rather unsatisfying. The show's tone seems uneven with the humour and satire on celebrity fixation working beautifully, but with the personal story failing to connect. Nevertheless, Becky Biro believes she ought to be famous and we'd say this very funny play ought to be seen.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Holly Revell.

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